The 54th Hunger Games
by Jayfish
Summary: This year's Hunger Games are going to be filled with romance, danger and 23 dead tributes.  Who will be crowned victor?  CLOSED, but still read!  There are a lot of great characters in this one!
1. Draft List

Hey guys! Here's the draft list for the 54th Hunger Games!

Also, just to let you guys know, I'm totally open to suggestions. I may not actually do what you say, but I'll at least read it... So suggest away! And that goes for all readers, not just people that submitted characters.

Draft List

**District One Girl: **Soleil Nike Callwyn**  
><strong>**District One Boy: **Landon Nodean

**District Two Girl: **Echo Garnett  
><strong>District Two Boy:<strong> Absalmo Kween*

**District Three Girl: **Mela Servitore**  
><strong>**District Three Boy: **Rorie Jameson*

**District Four Girl: **Rylla Stevens  
><strong>District Four Boy: <strong>Dillon Murphy

**District Five Girl: **Amethyst "Ameth" Azeleck**  
><strong>**District Five Boy: **Matt Grove

**District Six Girl: **Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow  
><strong>District Six Boy: <strong>Seren Alyona

**District Seven Girl: **Lura Falon  
><strong>District Seven Boy: <strong>Saber Anderson

**District Eight Girl: **Arista Ryans  
><strong>District Eight Boy: <strong>Qwiss Cwail*

**District Nine Girl: **Merryn Enya Night**  
><strong>**District Nine Boy: **Blame Iemm*

**District Ten Girl: **Garnet Painite**  
><strong>**District Ten Boy: **Hu Phang*

**District Eleven Girl: **Rosie Fullmoon**  
><strong>**District Eleven Boy: **James Austin Mocking

**District Twelve Girl: **Cypress Lockhart**  
>District Twelve Boy: <strong>Fang

I'm going to be killing ONE created character in the Bloobath. Soo sorry; I don't have enough Bloodbath characters! But it's going to be a character by someone who made more than one character, so they still have a chance of winning the Games.

Sorry; I forgot to post this... This symbol (*) means that this character is a Bloodbath character made by me, Jayfish. And yes, they and ONE other character are all going to die in the Bloodbath.

May the 54th Hunger Games begin, and may the odds be EVER in your favor! Plus, here's a random short fight scene from the 53rd Hunger Games, just for fun.

* * *

><p><em>Mara stared out over the frosty expanse below her and exhaled, her breath forming crystals around her face. Decon was gone; Ellia was somewhere that Mara wasn't, and the Careers were hot on her trail. And, to make matters worse, she was stuck on this cliff, with nowhere else to go.<em>

_"I'm going to die," she moaned._

_"How right you are." Mara stiffened, and turned to see Ellia standing behind her, holding a knife and looking almost sad. Slowly, Mara smiled._

_"Ellia," she said._

_"Sorry, kid," Elline said, and she really did look sorry as she scraped at the ice with her toe. "But there can only be one victor, and it has to be me. You understand."_

_"Unfortunately, I do," Mara said, her hand drifting to her back pocket where her knife was. Ellia looked at the ice awkwardly, and then snatched one of her knives and threw it at Mara's head. Mara ducked and hissed as the knife snicked her ear._

_"You've gotten faster," Ellia panted, swinging at Mara with her sword. "I guess my training came in handy."_

_"I guess it did," Mara replied, backing away from the deadly arc in Ellia's hands. She bit her lip as she realized that the cliff was directly behind her. There was nowhere else to go._

_Ellia raised the sword. "Sorry," she said, just as Mara threw her knife with deadly accuracy into the older girl's heart._

_Elli gagged, and her sword fell from her suddenly nerveless fingers and tipped over the edge of the cliff. She looked dumbfoundedly at the red stain spreading across her shirt, and then looked at Mara. "...Bitch," she gasped. A smile graced her features._

_And then she slumped into Mara's arms, and gravity took hold of her. Before she could resist, she was falling, over the edge of the cliff and into the darkness below._


	2. The Reapings

Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow rubbed a hand through her copper-colored hair and blinked absently, a small pout forming on her face. She closed her eyes and yawned, back arching against the tree trunk she was resting against. Her crow feather necklace brushed against her collarbone, and she stroked it with her thumb absentmindedly. "Reaping day," she announced, to no one in particular. "Hooray."

She got up slowly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Goodbye, Mr. Oak Tree," she said, waving. "It was fun, I suppose. You've been the best sleeping spot I've had for weeks." A tiny flicker of rage fueled her heart. She wouldn't have had to sleep outside if it wasn't for her bastard father, the man who'd never loved her at all, and had left her family for one that he liked better. So she ran away, so what? She'd been planning to return, honestly she had been. But instead of coming back home, the Capitol had found her. And then…

She hissed and narrowed her eyes. Thinking about the Capitol and what they'd done to her always made her nauseous and angry, and when she was nauseous and angry, she tended to want to destroy something. And that wasn't a good mindset for Reaping Day. She took a deep breath in through her nose and slowly relaxed, arms settling at her sides in tense fists. "The point is that they let me come back to District Six," she said aloud, trying to calm herself down. "And now I'm back. So there's nothing wrong."

She screeched in rage suddenly and turned, slamming her fist into the oak tree. It shuddered briefly, and an acorn started to fall. She fluidly turned to one side and watched as it hit the ground before slamming it with her foot, crushing it to dust under her booted feet. "Everything's wrong," she snarled. "Look at me; look at what they did to me! I can't think straight; I'm not the same as I used to be." She looked up at the blue sky, trembling. "_I'm insane_."

Slowly, she slumped to the ground and put her arms around her knees. She hated thinking about her obvious insanity, but every single outburst like that forced her to remind herself that she as a danger to anyone she'd ever loved. That was why she hadn't returned to her mother after what had happened. She'd been afraid; afraid she'd hurt her mother in an outburst, maybe even kill her. And it wasn't only the insanity she was afraid would kill her mother. Ever since the Capitol, there was a new side of her, a more primal, wild side. An animal side.

A mutt side.

She smiled to herself. "Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow, the half-human, half-monster. At least I don't look like a mutt." She stretched out her arms and examined them for any hint of monster. There was nothing. She sighed and slumped back, enjoying the tickle of wet grass on her pale cheek. They hadn't added anything to her, on the outside, anyway. It had all been cellular. She remembered the fluids they'd pumped into her body and the dead owl they'd said they'd gotten their inspiration from, and found herself on her feet, storming towards the square where the reaping was always held.

She wasn't always this moody. But there was a decision weighing her down; something she'd been considering for a while, but something she'd never had the courage to do. And now that Reaping Day was here, so was Decision Day. It was time to make a choice.

And Lysemet was not one to decide anything.

Soon, the empty streets of District Six began to fill up with people slowly filing to the reaping square. Lysemet examined their faces. Some people looked scared, others excited. There were some who looked weary, and others that looked totally numb. _I wonder what I look like, _she thought. _Probably scary. _The idea brought a smile to her face.

She could tell that she was nearing the square by the quiet but persistent sound of people talking nervously. She stepped into the square itself and was immediately herded into a pen filled with other fourteen-year olds. No one talked to her, and she didn't talk to anyone. Roaming around the streets of District Six was not a good way to make friends.

Lysemet found herself clenching and unclenching her fists nervously. _That's it, _she thought. _I have to make a decision. Now._

The square immediately hushed as Prima Selken clacked onstage with what looked to be six-inch heels. Lysemet rolled her eyes. _Ridiculous. When are these Capitol people going to figure out that we think they all look like freaks? _The Capitol woman crossed over to the Mayor of District Six and motioned for him to begin his speech. It was a boring one, filled with talk of rebellion and Hunger Games, in which Lysemet had to pinch herself to keep from falling asleep. He finished sooner than she anticipated, and she realized with a growing sense of urgency that she hadn't made a decision yet. _Alright, _she thought, starting to sweat. _Alright. I choose… I choose… _

"And what a wonderful speech that was!" Prima trilled, stepping into range of the microphones. "Let's give the Mayor of District Six a big hand!" There was a smattering of applause, and Prima waited politely until it died down. "Alright," she said. "No point in beating around the bush; let's get started!" She clacked towards the huge glass bowls containing thousands of slips of paper with names written on the in tiny letters. "Ladies first!" She said cheerfully, dipping into the female bowl. All around Lysemet, girls stiffened in anticipation. You could hear a pin drop.

Prima finally managed to snag a piece of paper with her claw-like nails. She held it close to her eyes and opened her mouth. "Sally Froman!" She cried; the name echoing across the square.

There was a horrified cry from the sixteen-year olds, and a pretty girl with dark brown hair started towards the stage, tears brimming in her eyes and flooding down her cheeks. Lysemet looked at the girl with interest, and something twisted within her.

"Hold on, Sally!" Prima said, holding out her hand. "I have to ask for volunteers first, remember?" She laughed, and a tiny sob escaped Sally's lips. Prima turned to face the crowd. "_Are _there any volunteers?" She asked primly.

_I've made my decision, _Lysemet thought calmly, and stepped forward.

"Me," she said. "I, Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow, volunteer."

* * *

><p>Seren Alyona stared at the stage, and watched as Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow walled up the steps and stood next to Prima Selken. <em>That's the girl, <em>he thought. _Now all that's left for them to do is get a boy tribute. _A tremor ran down his spine. _What if it's me? Oh God, what'll I do if I get picked? The Hunger Games are so awful; I don't want to kill anybody!_

"How very brave!" Prima said, putting a hand around Lysemet's shoulder. "Now, why'd you want to be in the Hunger Games, sweetheart?"

To Seren's surprise, the girl began to laugh, tremors of mirth wracking her body. "That's none of your business," she giggled, voice sickly sweet. Prima quickly withdrew her hand.

"Well, now that we have a girl tribute, it's time for us to get our boy tribute for the 54th Hunger Games!" Prima looked as though she expected a cheer, and when no one did anything looked mildly disappointed. She crossed to the bowls and reached inside. _Not me, not me, not me, _Seren thought desperately. A bead of sweat trickled down his spine. _Please not me._

"And our male tribute for the 54th Hunger Games is… Seren Alyona!" Prima said triumphantly. A dead weight settled in Seren's stomach, and he staggered towards the stage, stopping as Prima asked for volunteers. He turned to look back at his best friend Ethli. Ethli's eyes were brimming with tears, and he immediately looked down, avoiding Seren's gaze. No one said anything. _That's it, _Seren thought numbly. _That's it. I'm going to the Hunger Games. I'm going to die!_

Tears pricked the back of his eyes, but he swallowed hard and blinked. _I can't cry, _he thought. _If I cry, no one will sponsor me, and I'll die for sure. _Seren walked up the stage slowly, clenching his fists. _If it wasn't me, somebody else would've died, _he thought. _It's good that nobody volunteered. Now they have a chance to survive… and I don't._

He mounted the stage and stood next to Lysemet, cringing when she gave him a decidedly unhinged stare. Prima swooped on him immediately. "Seren Alyona, how are you feeling now that you know you're going to be the 54th male tribute for District Six?"

Seren forced his numb lips to move. "Nervous," he managed. Vaguely he noticed that Prima was laughing. He felt tears pricking the back of his eyes again, and focused on the woman's face. Her eyes were a lovely honey color with flecks of green that were obviously the result of some kind of surgery. She had incredibly pale skin, and her hair was pink and curly. Her lips were cherry red, and her teeth were pure white. _I hate her, _Seren realized calmly. _I hate her; I hate the Capitol, and I hate these damn games!_

"Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the tributes of District Six! Let's give them a big hand!" Seren stared at the crowd and listened to them cheer. He imagined the shocked faces of his parents somewhere in the crowd, and Ethli sobbing silently. He clenched his palms so hard that he broke skin, and winced as warm wet blood welled up in his palm.

"Now, I'd like the two little victors to shake hands!" Prima cooed. Seren turned to Lysemet and cringed again at the strange light in her eyes. She extended her hand, and he took it carefully, shaking it up and down. _She is so creepy. _As if in response to his thought, a wide smile extended across Lysemet's face, and she licked her lips. Seren immediately let go of her and turned away. _I hope I don't ever see her in the arena. I don't want to see her uninhibited. _

"Now head over to the Justice Building, friends and family of Lysemet and Seren! The rest of you can head home," Prima said, dismissing the crowd. A squad of Peacekeepers marched onstage and surrounded Lysemet and Seren, walking them to the Justice Building. Seren felt numb. Slowly, they made it to the front lobby of the building, and Lysemet was escorted into the first room on the right. Seren entered the second room and sat down nervously on a plush couch, sinking into the fabric despite his thin frame. He brushed his strikingly blonde hair out of his eyes and settled down to wait.

He didn't have to wait long. A few moments after he sat down, the door burst open and his mother burst into the room, tears streaming down her cheeks. She gathered Seren into an immediate hug and sobbed, her thin frame heaving. Seren patted her back and jammed his eyes shut. _If I cry now, I'll only make things worse, _Seren thought. _I have to keep it together._

Seren's mother pulled back and smoothed a lock of his hair off his face dreamily. "Seren… My Seren… My little boy…!" She began to cry quietly again.

Seren's father walked to his son and opened his arms. Seren hugged his father quickly, breathing in the scent of his cheap cologne. The scent alone threatened to break his resolve of not crying, but he only squeezed his father tighter and released him. His father practically never hugged him, and he was glad he'd have this moment to remember in the arena.

Seren realized idly that his mother was wearing her nurse's uniform. Slowly, she reached up and pulled off her hat. "In the arena… You get a token," she whispered, voice cracked. "I want you to have this." She reached out and took Seren's hand, placing the hat in his palms. "I hope that it'll remind you of everything we taught you; most importantly to always be yourself." Glassy tears trickled down her lovely face. "No matter what you do in that arena, son, I'll always love you," she said, hugging him tightly again. "No matter what."

"You can do this, son," Seren's father said, gathering both of them into his embrace. "I have faith in you." There was a knock on the door, and all three of them jumped. Slowly, Seren's parents pulled away.

"We have to go now," Seren's mother said. They started towards the door, but with a cry Seren's mother broke away and ran back to his side, hugging him tightly. "I love you, oh Seren, I love you!" She sobbed, clinging to him. Two stony-looking Peacekeepers shoved Seren's father out of the room and walked to Seren's mother, pulling her away. "Seren!" She shrieked, straining against them. "My baby! Remember, always remember-!" The door slammed shut and her cries faded.

Seren slumped back into the chair but almost immediately stood back up as the door opened and Ethli walked into the room, closing the door behind him. Ethli stood in the middle of the room awkwardly, hands in his pockets and looking at the floor. Seren realized that he was going to have to be the one to initiate the conversation. "Hey, Ethli," he began, and the boy exploded.

"I'm so sorry, Seren!" He yelled. "I should have volunteered for you! I should be the one going to the Games! I'm sorry, I'm really sorry…" He blew his nose in his sleeve and clenched his eyes shut as though it could stop him from crying.

Seren shook his head immediately. "No, Ethli," he said sternly. "I'm glad I'm the one going; not you. You have a whole life ahead of you! Look at me." He gestured towards himself. "I'm so sickly, Ethli," he said quietly. "I keep on getting sick and spending time in bed. Who knows if I would've made it past eighteen?" Ethli shook his head fiercely, but Seren continued. "If you'd volunteered I never would've forgiven you," Seren said. "You'll… you'll always be my best friend!"

Ethli made a choking noise and burst into tears, grabbing Seren around the middle and hugging him tightly. "You can do it, Seren," he whispered, pressing into his friend's chest. He pulled away and grinned futilely. "If you don't come home I'll kill you myself!"

Seren smiled wistfully. "See you then," he said, and Ethli nodded before hurrying out of the room. The door banged shut behind him, and almost immediately after that came a Peacekeeper.

"It's time," the man said coldly, and Seren stood up and walked towards his fate.

* * *

><p>Saber Anderson awoke with a start and yawned, stretching out in bed. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, blearily noting the sun shining through the windows of his house in the Victor's Village. <em>Thanks for winning the 47<em>_th__ Hunger Games, Mom, _he thought, for the umpteenth time. _You're the best._

He got dressed slowly, knowing that he'd have to show up for breakfast eventually but not really wanting to. His mom would probably be a nervous wreck; it was his first time being entered in the reaping, after all. He only had his name entered in those big glass bowls once, but what did that matter? His mother had only had her name in the bowl twice when she was reaped. It was possible that the very same thing could happen to him.

He laughed uncomfortably. _I'll be fine, _he thought. _It's Ian I should worry about. His name's in there three times; that's a lot more than me! The odds are in my favor today._

Eventually, and after careful consideration, Saber had an outfit ready. It was a simple black top and pants, but he felt as though it made him look dignified in some way. _I have to look good for my first reaping! _He thought. _I mean, if… If I get reaped, I want to look good._

He headed downstairs to find his mother slumped at the kitchen table, idly tracing the patterned wood with a well-manicured finger. She was a beautiful woman; Saber's mother. Tall and slim, with locks of golden-brown hair that looked silkier than even the genetically altered hair of a Capitol woman. Saber knew that his mother had won her Hunger Games by getting so many sponsors for being an incredible beauty. _If I get reaped, how am I going to get sponsors? _She looked up at his approach and smiled; blue eyes dewy. "Give your mother a hug, Saber," she commanded him, and wrapped him in her sweet-smelling embrace, soft cotton bathrobe warm against his skin. "I love you very, very much, darling," she whispered in his ear. Saber squirmed.

"Thanks, Mom," he said. "But I'm going to be fine today." Saber's mother nodded busily and got up, heading for the stove.

"You're right, of course," she said. "I shouldn't be worried." A mischievous twinkle appeared in her eye. "Besides, you've got my genes in you, so how could you possibly lose the Hunger Games?"

"Well, your genes could shockingly not matter at all," Saber said seriously, and she rolled her eyes.

"You take things way too literally," she said, picking up a pan. Saber breathed in deeply and sighed as he realized his mother had made eggs.

"Eggs," he said happily. "Thanks, mom."

"You're welcome, darling," she said, pouring the eggs onto his plate and kissing him on the top of the head. She walked around to her chair and gave herself the remaining eggs; replacing the pan on the stovetop. They sat down together and started to eat. Saber watched his mother closely. There was a tiny line between her eyebrows, which he knew meant she was worried. He sighed inwardly. She'd been a worrier ever since her husband and Saber's father had died of a strange illness; nothing he said would be able to convince her that he'd be safe today.

They finished up, and Saber dropped his fork on his plate, putting a hand on his slightly bulging belly. "Good eggs, mom," he said. She frowned at the bulge on his stomach.

"Sometimes I worry that I'm too good of a cook," she said dryly. "Come on, Saber. It's time to go."

Saber stared. "You're going in your _bathrobe_?"

His mother shrugged. "Why not? I'm a victor; nobody's going to be upset if I dress eccentrically."

"The Capitol might," Saber pointed out, and his mother rolled her eyes.

"Come on, you," she said, grabbing his hand and dragging him out the door. Even as they stepped into the sunlight, Saber saw throngs of people filing towards the square. Living in the Victor's Village, they were only about a block away from the square, which made showing up for mandatory public gatherings easy.

Saber and his mother slipped among the crowd and made it into the square. Saber immediately headed for the other twelve year-olds, giving his mother's hand a reassuring squeeze before disappearing amongst his peers. He was almost immediately surrounded by many of his friends; all of them were patting him on the back and wishing him good luck. He smiled and wished them good luck as well, but he was starting to get a strange feeling in his stomach. _Foreboding, _he thought. _Why do I feel like this? It's so strange…_

He smiled as he saw his best friend, Ian. Ian gave him a half wave and went back to looking at his nails. The boy was trembling, and his eyes were huge. Saber sighed and walked over to his friend, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Hey, Ian," he said.

"H-h-hey," Ian replied, not looking up. Saber sighed again.

"What are you worried about?" He asked. "Remember when I promised to volunteer for you? I still mean it. Besides, you're only in three times. They're not going to pick you."

"O-o-okay," Ian muttered, apparently not reassured. They both froze as Secri Musebex mounted the stage. Saber's lip immediately curled. Secri was a very repellent figure. Her long hair was black and came down to her waist, and her skin was grey and sagging. Apparently, this was the way she chose to look, and Saber had a feeling that it was in rebellion for having the boring district of seven. According to legend, she wanted District One with a passion, but never, ever got it. President Snow didn't like her very much. But it was all just speculation.

"Okay," the Mayor said, stepping forward when Secri maintained a stubborn silence. "It's time for the annual speech!" A few people cheered, but most everyone rolled their eyes. The speech was the most boring waste of time imaginable, and the Mayor of District Seven went on _forever._

Saber resorted to quietly reassuring Ian while the Mayor droned on, and on, and on. Ian was mostly worried about Saber, truth be told, and Saber sensed that he was right. What would happen to Ian if Saber went to the Games? Ian was too weak to take care of himself. He needed Saber.

The speech took a while, to say the least. By the time the Mayor stepped back, most of the twelve year-olds were in tears, and people were openly talking.

Secri sighed into the microphone. "Reaping time," she said dryly. There was instant quiet. The Capitol woman walked to the two glass balls, examining them for a moment. "Ladies first," she sighed; a phrase she'd said thousands of times before and would probably have to say thousands of times again. She reached in the bowl and plucked out a name quickly. "Lura Falon," she read aloud. Saber's eyes widened and he felt as though he'd been slugged in the stomach. Lura wasn't his best friend, but a few of his friends liked her and he thought she was pretty cool. He bit his lip. _Poor Lura. I hope she makes it back. _Lura stepped out of the fifteen year-old section and started towards the stage. She walked up the steps and stood next to Secri.

"Now it's time for the males," Secri said, clearly bored and already reaching into the glass bowl. She snatched a slip and lifted it up. "Saber Anderson," she said calmly.

_No, _Saber thought.

He was going to the Games.

* * *

><p>Lura watched unhappily as Saber Anderson walked onstage. She liked him, although she didn't know him very well. She'd already made the decision to come back home alive, and it wouldn't do to have someone she cared about even remotely in the arena. <em>Maybe we can be allies for a while, <em>she thought, _but eventually someone's going to have to kill you, and when they do I'm not going to endanger my life to save yours. _

Immediately, she felt horrible for even thinking about it. _I don't want to turn into a killing-happy monster, _she thought. _I'm going to have to watch myself. I'd rather die than turn into somebody I'm not._

"Tributes, shake hands," Secri commanded. Lura turned to Saber and took his hand in her own. His eyes were huge, and he looked like he'd break apart at any moment. _Poor kid, _Lura thought. _Nobody volunteered for him. Well, nobody volunteered for me either…_

"Take them to the Justice Building," Secri told the Peacekeepers, already heading off the stage. Lura sighed. _She's not going to be very helpful, and I'm going to need all the help I can get._

A squad of Peacekeepers, surrounded Lura and Saber, and they began to march. Lura was in her own world, and didn't come out until the Peacekeepers had left her in a room all by herself. She sat gingerly on a tall-backed chair and blinked calmly as the door opened.

Her mother was framed in the doorway, eyes wide and unhappy. She crossed to her daughter immediately, and took her in her arms. "Oh, baby, oh, sweetheart," she moaned, eyes leaking fat tears. "Oh, honey."

Lura looked up to see her father standing in the doorway. He was sober for once, and staring at the floor as if he thought she wouldn't want him. _I can't leave without making up with him, _she thought. _Even if he sometimes beats me. It just prepared me for the Games, anyway._ "Dad," she said. He looked startled, as though he hadn't expected her to want to talk to him.

Slowly, he crossed to her, and the whole family hugged tightly. _This must be killing mom, _Lura thought. _First her brother, then my sister, and now me. Our family's been torn apart by the Hunger Games. _

Lura's mother sobbed silently, crumpling to her knees and cradling her head in her hands. She wailed and clutched at Lura's arm, shaking her head as though she could somehow change Lura's fate. Lura smiled gently. "Mom," she said, and Lura's mother stopped wailing, although her eyes still leaked tears. "Don't cry, mom," Lura continued. "There's no need. Because, just to let you know… _I'm coming home_." Her eyes were narrowed, and determination blazed in her heart.

Slowly, Lura's mother nodded. "I… I believe you," she whispered, getting to her feet. For a moment, there was silence in the room as all three of its occupants considered what Lura was about to go through.

"Stay with me," Lura said softly, and her parents nodded. They kneeled on either side of her, holding her in their arms. She was quiet as they held her, murmuring words of praise and love in each ear. She was content. If this was the last moment she would ever have with her parents, well, it was a good moment.

When the knock on the door came, all three of them broke out of their separate thoughts and stared at the door. Something as innocent as a door had never seemed so poisonous before, Lura mused. Her parents rose like wraiths and moved towards the door absently. Lura waved once, but neither of them looked back. Perhaps it was better that way.

The door closed, and Lura fiddled with the bracelet on her thin wrist. It smelled like pine trees, and she realized with a start that it was going to be her token. It would remind her of her home when things got grim.

The door squeaked open, and Lura was suddenly surrounded in a sea of twelve-year olds. She realized, feeling gratified, that they were all of the friends she'd made over the years. Lura really liked twelve year-olds, far more than she liked people her own age. They felt catty and superficial. Twelve year-olds felt real.

Markus pulled her to her feet, and Samie and Rose hugged her hard. Twilla and Greg hopped up and down in front of her, and Gracie waved her short hands in the hair, determined not to get overlooked. Lura smiled gracefully.

"Hey, guys," she said. "It was nice of you to come visit."

"You've gotta come back!" Markus said, getting straight to the point. His nostrils flared and he clenched his fist. "We need you, Lara! You have to come back!"

"Yeah!" Gracie chimed in, gently pushing Lura into her chair and squeezing next to her. "We love you, Lura!"

A blossom of warmth flowered in Lura's heart. "I promise," she whispered.

"Say it again!" Greg exclaimed.

"I promise!" Lura declared. "There's no way I'd ever leave you guys. Ever."

"Don't leave, Lura!" Samie blubbered, her face bright red.

"Please," her twin Rose agreed. They both hugged her legs hard.

"I have to," Lura exclaimed. "But you know I'm coming back." The twins erupted in a chorus of wails, leaving Lura to believe they didn't have much confidence in her abilities.

"You can do it, Lura," Twilla said confidently. "I have faith in you."

"Thanks, guys," Lura said. A solitary tear dripped down her cheekbone. Somehow, her resolve to return had been strengthened tenfold. She was going to return to her little companions. "This means a lot to me."

There was a knock on the door, and Lura glanced up. She hadn't felt the time passing so quickly. Her little friends trooped out, waving at her in a heartfelt way, some crying. The last to leave was Markus. "Good luck, Lura," he said quietly, and shut the door behind him.

Lura leaned back in her chair, already missing Gracie's warmth next to her. She sighed and put a hand to her cheek.

She was coming back. For them.


	3. Train Rides

**Here's Chapter Two, guys! Hope you like, and REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**  
><strong>Also, feel free to leave me as many suggestions as you want; anybody who reads this. I just love 'em.<strong>

* * *

><p>Matt Grove looked around himself in wonder. The plush carpets, fancy clothing and technology in his car was pretty much astonishing to him. He hadn't grown up poor in District Five, but he certainly hadn't been rich, and all the luxury surrounding him made him feel vaguely sick.<p>

He sat down gingerly on his bed and kicked his feet up, soiling the crisp white sheets with his muddy shoes. It had been raining in District Five during the reaping, and he'd gotten quite wet. He closed his eyes and pictured the square for a moment. His new escort, Dmitri Luness, had reached into the bowl and called out Matt's name. He'd wiped his face completely blank of any emotions and mounted the stage, standing next to the girl tribute. In truth, he'd already forgotten her name, and he wasn't too keen on relearning it. In a few short weeks, she was going to be his enemy, and he didn't want to get to know her at all. That would make facing her all the worse.

The distant boom of thunder alerted Matt to the fact that it was still raining. He opened his green eyes and stared at the window, watching the world go by in blurry sheets of rain. The greyness permeating his room felt appropriate. After all, he was headed towards the Hunger Games. Even if he did win, it meant the death of twenty-three other human beings.

Matt didn't like those odds at all.

He sat up and walked to the window, sliding open the glass panes and sighing as a cold wind blew his messy brown hair out of his eyes. Flecks of water spattered his face, and he grinned fleetingly. This was a moment he was enjoying, and he didn't have too many of them left. He'd have to enjoy this one even more than he normally would have. But as soon as he thought it, he scowled. Now it wasn't good anymore. He sighed and crossed back over to his bed, throwing himself face-down on the covers. In all his fifteen years, he'd never been so scared.

He started as there was a knock on his door. "Matt?" It sounded like Dmitri's voice, although Matt couldn't be sure. "Come down to dinner, okay? Your mentors are here and they're just _dying _to meet you!" He paused for a fraction of a second, and sighed when Matt didn't answer. "Everyone's waiting," he complained. "Even Amethyst is there."

"Amethyst?" Matt asked.

"Your district partner!" Dmitri exclaimed. Matt imagined him throwing his hands up in exasperation, and grinned in spite of himself. Despite the strange situation, he found himself liking Dmitri more and more.

"Alright, I'm coming," he said, getting off the bed and opening the door. Dmitri grinned down at him, gold skin and intricate tattoos gleaming in the light. His bald head looked as though it had been modeled after a golden egg, and his teeth were brilliantly white. _That must be a Capitol fad, _Matt thought. Dmitri rolled his leonine eyes at the sight of Matt and grabbed him by the nape of the neck, herding him to the dining car.

"…And you look absolutely awful, kid; I hope that you have a good prep-team, because you'll need it. What were you doing in there, anyway, deliberately trying to ruin your room? There's mud all over the floor and the window looks like you _opened _it. Why in God's name would you do that? Now…" Matt tuned Dmitri out with a sigh. Dmitri was cool, but he talked way too much.

They entered the car together and Dmitri good-naturedly pushed Matt into his chair before sitting down next to a tall young woman with pure white hair and dark blue eyes. She smiled at him, and he realized that she her teeth were sharpened to feline points, and her pupils were slits. Sitting next to her were two girls who looked to be around the same age; one of them had dark, straight brown hair and a simple tattoo of a rose on her left cheek, and the other had glossy black hair that tumbled down to the small of her back and cerulean blue eyes that examined him. He recognized her as his district partner, and nodded at her. She flashed him a small smile in return and looked at the table.

"Hey," the first girl said, waving at him. "I'm your mentor, Mara."

"And I'm her older sister and your second mentor, Lynx," the white-haired girl said. Matt's eyes widened as he realized that Mara was last year's winner of the Hunger Games. Her arena had been a barren icescape, and she'd won by pushing the Career that was attacking her into a den that turned out to house a flesh-eating monster. People were still debating whether or not she'd known it was there, but looking at her, Matt decided that she hadn't. Her brown eyes seemed fairly honest, and in truth she didn't look like the kind of person that usually won the Hunger Games.

"So… Why are there two of you?" He asked. Lynx chuckled.

"My little sister isn't mature enough to be a mentor all by herself yet," she said, her voice rich and throaty. "I'm going to be coaching her on how to coach you." Her eyes gleamed. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to help the both of you, too."

"Thank you very much," Amethyst said in a soft voice. "That means a lot to me." Lynx turned her cat-like blue eyes on Matt's district partner.

"You're very welcome," she said softly, and Matt realized happily that Lynx desperately wanted one of them to win. _With two mentors, Amethyst and I've got a pretty good chance of winning! _He thought. His heart dropped suddenly. _The both of us… Do I want to be her ally? _He looked across at the girl. She was small and quiet, and seemed to be very nice. _I don't know; not really. If she asks me, I'll probably say yes, but other than that, I don't think so…_

"Well, first up's dinner!" Dmitri said. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starved!" Lynx offered him a half-smile, and Matt decided that it was just too hard not to like Dmitri. He had a persona that made you want to be his friend.

A Capitol attendant entered the room, holding a steamy covered platter. Matt's eyes watered, and he licked his lips. Two more attendants entered the room, also holding similar platters, and Matt started longingly at his fork, desperately wanting to start the feast but not willing to eat until everyone had been served. The Capitol attendants put the plates in the center of the table and whisked off the covers; inside the platters was some kind of bird in a rich, creamy sauce. Matt's eyes widened; there were three whole birds, and they were massive. This really was a feast.

The attendants quickly and expertly carved the bird, and offered two legs and a wing to Matt. He took them graciously, and glanced at everyone else. Dmitri was already cutting into his bird; red meaty juice oozing from its crackling skin. Lynx had it in her hands and was tearing at its flesh like a demon with her pointed teeth, and Mara too was cutting into the bird. Only Amethyst was still waiting; for him, he realized. He smiled in thanks and she smiled too.

Then Matt picked up his fork, and started the best meal he'd ever had.

* * *

><p>Amethyst Azeleck was stuffed. The roast bird she'd had for dinner had been delicious, and she's forced herself to have seconds, and then thirds. She was skinny for a fourteen year-old, and had to put some weight on before the Games. If she didn't do that, at least, she would almost certainly lose.<p>

She clenched one fist under the table. _I shouldn't think like that, _she thought. _I've got a chance of winning. It's not a big chance, but it's a chance._

She looked up at her district partner, mentors and escort. All of them were friendly enough, although she didn't think she wanted to have a conversation with Matt. She was pretty shy, and she didn't have a clue of how to start the conversation. _The Hunger Games, huh. Think you're gonna die? _She smiled. _That would be awkward._

She may have just had a big meal, but Amethyst, or Ameth, as she thought of herself, wanted to burn off some steam. She bounced up and down in her chair, black hair twirling in a cacophony around her head. Dmitri noticed her energy and smiled. "You look excited!" He noted, and she immediately stopped bouncing and blushed.

"Well… yeah, I guess," she said, smiling at the table. Dmitri seemed to notice that he'd made her feel uncomfortable, because he immediately rose and stretched, yawning loudly.

"Alright, gang; let's go watch those reapings before I'm too tired to stay awake!" Matt, Lynx and Mara nodded, and Ameth tried not to groan. _I can't think of anything more boring, _she thought_. _She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it with a snap. _No, I should watch them. I'll get to know my competition a bit better._

All five of them headed to another car, where a couch and television set was waiting. Ameth was crowded in a seat next to Mara, and smiled at her teenage mentor. "You were really brave last year," she commented.

"Yeah," Matt chimed in. "The way you ended Froma was incredible!"

Mara smiled, but it was twisted with sadness. She sighed. "Brave has nothing to do with the Hunger Games," she said, turning to look at the television screen as it flared to life. Matt looked confused, but Ameth immediately stored the information away. _Mara's still unhappy about her Games. I better not mention them again._

Ameth turned to the screen, tapping her foot impatiently as the Capitol seal flashed across the dark surface. The reapings themselves were frankly difficult to watch. Only a few people really stood out to Ameth as she absorbed the reapings. Both tributes from District 6 were reaped, and both of them nearly broke Ameth's heart. The girl whose name Ameth quickly forgot looked nervous but resolved, but the boy, whose name was Saber, looked terrified. _How am I ever supposed to hurt them? Killing somebody else… It'll kill me, too. _Then there was a lovely girl from District Ten who was reaped as well. Ameth could see someone trying to volunteer, but the beautiful girl pushed her back viciously and mounted the stage, where she smirked into the cameras, her grin reeking confidence. _I hope I don't have to cross her. _The last one who really stood out to her was a dark-skinned girl named Rosie from District Eleven. Another girl was called, and Rosie volunteered for her. Her eyes were dark and sad, and she looked broken in a thousand ways.

Dmitri stretched and Lynx bared her teeth in a yawn. "Alright, bed," Dmitri ordered.

"Dmitri? I'm not very tired," Ameth confessed, blushing under his gaze. Dmitri smiled.

"Alright, everybody else get out," he said. "I'm going to teach this girl what to do in the event of insomnia." Lynx, Mara and Matt filed out of the room, and Dmitri rung for an attendant.

"Bring some warm milk with honey," he added, and sat down on the couch next to Ameth. He fixed her with one golden eye and gave her a warm smile. "So," he said. "How are you feeling?"

Ameth shrugged. "Truthfully? Pretty bad."

Dmitri nodded sagely. "That's understandable," he said. "The next couple of weeks are going to be pretty big for you." Ameth nodded. The attendant arrived with the milk, and Ameth took a sip of hers, sighing as the warmth ran down her throat.

"That's great," she said. "Thanks, Dmitri."

He shrugged. "It was the least I could do," he admitted. He looked at her sideways. "You look like you're thinking. What about?"

"The Capitol," Ameth answered truthfully, taking another sip. She could really taste the honey in there, and she liked it; it made for a great dessert drink. She would have to have it again, if she ever got the chance.

"What about the Capitol?" Dmitri persisted. Ameth sighed into her half-empty mug.

"About how much I hate it," she said quietly. She expected Dmitri to jump up at the words, but he only nodded and stared at his drink, draining it in one quick gulp.

"Are you tired yet, Amethyst?" He asked.

She nodded slowly, noting her drooping eyelids. "Yeah."

"Good." Dmitri got to his feet, leaving his mug on the little coffee table. He moved to walk past her, but she stopped him.

"Wait," she said. "I just wanted to let you know… You can call me Ameth. If you want."

Dmitri smiled. "Good night then, Ameth," he said, and bent to her ear. "And just to let you know… I agree with you. About the Capitol, that is." He strode out of the carriage quickly, leaving a startled Ameth staring after him.

* * *

><p>Arista Ryans' eyes snapped open. Her long blonde hair was tangled around her lovely face in a jumbled mess, and her huge brown eyes gaped at the ceiling for a full minute before she felt able to shakily get to her feet. Her long legs were russet and athletic in the dim light of the train car, and she anxiously tugged at the hem of her short purple night-dress.<p>

She sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed, putting her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees. She'd been having a dream about the Hunger Games, of course. In it, she'd been trapped in net made of tendrils of her own intestines. She'd struggled, but a huge boy came up to her with a sharpened knife, and slowly pierced her heart, smiling at her tenderly the whole time. It was very disconcerting, to say the least.

She scowled. _I'll be coming back, even if I did get reaped for the freaking Hunger Games. Who the hell will protect Carson if I don't come back? Dad's barely at home. I know he leaves because I remind him of mom, though, so maybe he'll stick around with me out of the picture and protect my baby brother. _An image of her little brother floated in her mind. His gap-toothed smile and dirty-blonde hair so like her own… Oh, she was coming back for him.

She got to her feet and pulled off her nightgown, heading into the bathroom. She surveyed her naked body in the mirror for a moment and nodded, approving. She looked at least nineteen, even though she was really just seventeen, and she was probably beautiful enough to get a decent amount of sponsors. _Watch out, Hunger Games, _she thought. _Arista Ryans is coming your way._

She stepped into the water and turned on a massage jet, arching her back and allowing the water to drum against her spine. Her hair was darker when it was wet, and it slapped against her back as she lathered it in shampoo. The train would arrive at the Capitol soon, and she wanted to make the best impression she could.

She turned on the air dryer and allowed it to dry her body, sighing as the warmth tingled against her bare skin. She stepped out of the shower and went over to the hair box, lightly touching it with a finger. Immediately, her hair unknotted and floated in a glossy curtain to her shoulders, via electric current, of course.

She stepped out of the room and headed directly towards her closet. It was stocked with a manner of outfits that she would enjoy wearing, and it was pretty difficult to decide. Eventually she settled on a green blouse with puffy sleeves and black leggings. She tied her hair back into a high ponytail and slipped on the leather bracelet her brother had made her that she was using as a token as a final touch. She slipped into a pair of green flats and headed out of the room to where breakfast was hopefully awaiting her.

The car was quiet, and she realized happily that she was the first one up. That was fine by her. Her escort, Zilly Maine, was just annoying; always reminding her what a lady would and wouldn't do. She honestly didn't give a crap, and didn't think Zilly was going to help her win the Games at all.

She sat down at the table and ordered chocolate rolls with hot chocolate and whipped cream from the food panel in the wall. She had a thing for chocolate, a thing she hadn't known about until she'd boarded the train yesterday. Ever since then, she'd been eating as much chocolate as she could. It was a staple for her, for every meal. Zilly warned her that if she ate too much chocolate, she'd get fat. Arista never said anything, but secretly she warned Zilly to shut the hell up.

There was a ding, and Arista raced to the panel and pulled out a freshly baked chocolate roll with frothy hot chocolate and whipped cream on the side. She licked her lips and brought her little feast to the table, cramming the roll into her mouth. She sighed through the flaky pastry. Delicious, as always.

The lights flicked on, and Arista froze. Slowly, she turned her head around to see Zilly glaring at her, tapping one heel. "Eating already?" The Capitol woman trilled disapprovingly, one lilac-skinned hand on her pencil skirted hip. "Is that really wise?"

Glowering, Arista shook her head. She swallowed, and felt the chocolate trailing down her throat. _I don't care if Zilly's mad; that was totally worth it._

There was movement behind Zilly, and one-armed Frayo Spleen appeared in the doorway. He was huge and well-muscled, with tattoos all over his body and bald head. He was fairly intimidating, but, like it or not, he was Arista's mentor. He cast Zilly a disparaging look. "Give it a rest. She won't get fat by the time we make it to the Capitol," he rumbled, voice deep. Zilly's eyes widened, and she nodded before scurrying past Frayo. Arista smirked; it was obvious she was afraid of him.

Frayo moved past Arista and ordered something from the panel; Arista wasn't really listening. His chair scraped, and he sat down across from her. Arista looked up and realized that he was staring at her; his dark eyes traveling over every visible inch of her lean frame. She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, but he continued to stare. Finally, Arista could take it no longer. "What are you doing?" She snapped, giving him a suspicious glare.

The corners of his lips twitched. "Looking at you," he said calmly.

"…Why?"

"I need to know you," he replied. "I'm your mentor. I'm considering what to do with you." Arista sighed. _He _is _my mentor. I don't need to trust him completely; just a little. And that's all he's getting._

"Okay," she said. "Any ideas?"

Slowly, her mentor nodded. "Your interview angle," he said. "I don't think you should do sexy. That's what you were planning to do, right?" Arista blinked; he'd gotten her spot on.

"Yeah," she said. "Why not?"

"You look too dangerous for sexy. You should be mysterious and powerful instead," Frayo replied.

Arista considered it, and at length, she nodded. "Alright," she said. "I suppose that's a good idea."

Frayo nodded. "What else?" He asked. "What are your skills?"

"I can use an axe, knife and sword. I know how to survive in the wild and I have medical training. I know snares and I'm a good climber. I'm also a very fast runner and have a great stamina. I can move quietly in the wild and remain virtually undetected," she recited. Frayo nodded slowly.

"And what about your weaknesses?"

"Do I have to say them out loud?"

Frayo pinned her with a stare. "If you want to survive, yes."

"Alright… Well, I talk in my sleep."

"Hmm," Frayo said. "You're an interesting girl, Arista Ryans. Very interesting."

Arista was saved from having to reply to this by the return of Zilly, with her district partner in tow. He flashed Arista a smile which she did not return. _Don't even think about it, _she thought. _I don't trust anyone from one smile._

Zilly and her partner got food and settled down at the table. "Alright," Zilly said, getting straight down to business. "Now, how would you two like to be coached? Together or separately?"

"I want to be alone," Arista said firmly, and Zilly pursed her lips as though she'd expected Arista to say exactly that.

"I thought so," she said, confirming Arista's suspicions. "Alright, then. We have quite a bit to do and not much time to do it. First thing's first; I'll take Mr. Cwail here and we'll work on his first Capitol appearance; the chariot rides. Mr. Spleen, I'd like you and Ms. Ryans to work on arena strategy."

Frayo nodded, and Zilly took Arista's district partner and led him from the room. Frayo immediately laced his fingers together. "What were you planning to do when you made it to the Cornucopia?"

"I hadn't really thought that far…"

"Then you'd better start. You don't have much time until the Hunger Games truly begins, and the arena is only half of the problem. You have to win the Capitol's favor too; Zilly is here for that. I'll be coaching you on the arena and what you should be doing there."

Arista nodded and took a deep breath. "What should I do at the Cornucopia, then?" She asked.

Frayo frowned. "I would say… I think you can handle the Bloodbath." Arista nodded, and Frayo continued. "How do you feel about killing?"

"I don't know…" Arista murmured.

"Well, the people who don't know lose the Games. If you're going into the Bloodbath, you're going to have to kill people. Are you ready to do that?" Arista found herself nodding unhappily, and Frayo nodded too, satisfied.

"Get your hands on an axe first," he said. "You can throw the axe at anyone who gets too close. By then you should have a sword, too. Once you've got those, you should start heading out. If you see anything good close by that no one seems to be going for, go for it, but otherwise get out. If you stay too long at the center of the battle you'll be targeted by everyone and your life will be over before you've got a chance to take a final breath." Frayo stared at her hard. Arista scowled and nodded once, hard, and a true smile spread across his face.

"You're going to win," he said calmly. "I can see it. You have what it takes." Arista breathed in sharply, and then lowered her eyes.

"…Thank you," she said.

She jumped as Zilly burst into the door. "We're almost there!" She squealed. "The Capitol! Look outside Arista, or you'll miss it!"

Despite herself, Arista got to her feet and peered out a window. She couldn't resist a shocked gasp at the sight of the city. The buildings were tall and magnificent; sparkling like promises. She couldn't see the whole city from where she was, but it looked _huge_. "Isn't it wonderful?" Zilly asked, gazing out a window as well with obvious pride. Arista just nodded. It was wonderful, if you weren't a lamb going to the slaughter. Which she was.

The train slowly ground to a halt, and a Capitol attendant came to open the doors. Zilly collected herself primly before stepping out, onto the waiting platform. Arista waited for Frayo to go out as well, and then her district partner. He looked as though he wanted to walk out with her, but she shooed him along. She was going to leave the train last, alone, and in her own way.

As soon as he was gone, she stepped into the blinding sunlight, idly twirling a lock of hair on her finger. Instantly a hundred cameras were pointed her way, and she smiled and let go of her hair, even being so bold as to wink once or twice. From the excited gasps the camera crew gave, she was doing the right thing.

"Arista! Arista Ryans!"

"How are you feeling?"

"How are you going to win this year's Games?"

"Are you ready?"

Arista turned to the man who'd asked the last question and stared directly into her cameras. "Ready?" She asked huskily. "I'm more than ready. I'm ready to _win_." Frayo nodded approvingly in thr background, and she grinned for a moment.

This little game, at least, was hers.


	4. Chariot Rides

**Hey guys! I've been thinking, and I'm really curious to know who everybody thinks is gonna win. We haven't met all the tributes yet, but when we have I'll ask who everybody thinks will win. Right now, who's your all-around favorite tribute (other than your own) and why? Review and tell me what you think, and what you think of my chapter and story!**

* * *

><p>Cypress Lockhart gritted her teeth and whipped on her robe. Her prep team had been working on her for about an hour now, and she'd never felt so ugly in her life. Practically everything about her "had to go." That meant no hair unless it was on the head, no clothes, which was extremely awkward, and none of the styling she'd done for herself. That meant that they'd taken out the simple braid she'd been wearing and straightened her blonde hair with some sort of iron. She was still fuming about that one.<p>

"What now?" She complained, as the head of her team, Kray, came skipping in. The Capitol man didn't seem at all put out by her temper.

"Well, now we have to make you pretty, of course!" He exclaimed, sounding horrified. "That was all just to stop you from being ugly."

"_Ugly?_" Cypress fumed, and Kray beamed.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, you're not half as hideous with all that hair gone. You actually look kind of nice!"

Cypress growled deep in her throat as Kray exited the room and returned about five seconds later with his female assistants. They all looked like freaks to Cypress, and the worst thing about them was that they seemed impervious to every strategy she had to make people do what she wanted. They just laughed in their annoying high-pitched voices and ignored her, continuing to talk about their boring, shallow lives. _They'd die if they had to spend a day in District Twelve, _Cypress thought. _I'd just love to see it, too._

"Alright, Cypress!" Kray said, clapping his hands together. "We're going to start getting you ready for the chariot rides! Your stylist won't be coming until you're perfectly ready, so we've got a lot of things to do and not much time to get it all done!" He turned to look at his assistants. "Tria, I want you to make the loops in her hair that Davin was telling us about. Sasha, you'll have to do that nails." He frowned and stroked his chin. "I'm thinking a pattern of red-orange mixed with black; how about you?"

"That sounds great!" Sasha trilled appreciatively, and Kray smiled.

"I'll do the makeup," he said, sounding annoyingly grim.

"And I'll just sit here, bored out of my skull," Cypress complained. All three of them stared at her.

"Well, that's the point!" Tria said. "Besides, getting makeovers is fun! You wouldn't know, being from District Twelve and all."

Cypress' huge green eyes widened. "_Excuse me?" _She hissed. "For your information, I was pretty well off in District Twelve, and even if I hadn't been I wouldn't want to sit in a chair for hours being 'made over' by a bunch of freaks!" Tria blinked and moved backwards as though she'd been slugged in the stomach by Cypress' words. Her violet eyes filled up with tears and she turned and ran from the room, sobbing.

"Well, that was just nasty!" Sasha exclaimed. "It's going to take ages to get her to come back here now! Are you _trying _to ruin your chances of winning the Games?" She exited the room too, heading after Tria. Kray said nothing, simply picking up a bag bulging with what looked like beauty products.

"I'll do your makeup while they're gone," he said simply. He reached into the bag and pulled out a few little bottles of varying peachy colors. He plucked one up that looked as though it would almost exactly match Cypress' skin tone and squeezed it onto a small round brush, dusting her face carefully with it. "That's to get rid of any obvious blemishes," he explained.

"I don't even have blemishes!" Cypress moaned, but he ignored her.

"You're going to need some shadow…" he said thoughtfully, and reached into the bag. He pulled out a rich brown powder and snatched another brush. "Close your eyes," he commanded, and Cypress slammed them shut in annoyance. _He better make me look damn good, _she thought bitterly.

She felt the brush lightly stroking her eyelids, and crossed her arms over her chest, slightly enjoying the tickle of the soft fabric of her robe against her skin. She felt Kray changing brushes and probably colors, and then the cool swipe of mascara defining her eyelashes. She wasn't exactly happy with the way things were going, especially all of the makeup, but Sasha had been right; about the Games, that is. The Capitol people did have a bias towards pretty people. Cypress wasn't extraordinarily beautiful, but she was definitely pretty, and hopefully her prep team and stylist could make her amazing. The better she looked the more sponsors she'd get. And the more sponsors she had, the more likely she would win the Games.

She felt Kray release her and open her eyes. He stared at her face for a full minute before nodding. "Alright," he said. "That's the best I can do. " They both flinched as the door opened and Tria and Sasha walked back in. Tria's eyes were puffy, and she looked at the floor, avoiding Cypress' gaze. Sasha, however, looked her straight in the eye.

"Tria has agreed to come back and help, but if you're rude to her again none of us are going to lift a finger. You're going to lose the Games without our help!"

"Alright," Cypress said, in a voice sickly sweet and dripping sarcasm. "I promise not to be a meanie to poor Tria."

"Good," Sasha said. _What? _Cypress thought. _That was probably the most obvious sarcasm ever! These Capitol idiots are stupider than I thought!_

Tria and Sasha walked to where she was sitting, and Sasha snatched one of her hands and started to examine the nails. Tria grabbed a brush and went to work on Cypress' hair, twirling it into elegant loops around her head. And Cypress sat in her chair, breathing deeply and trying not to snap.

It was going to be hard to win if she came out looking like a half made-up freak.

* * *

><p>Fang relaxed in his chair and waited for his stylist to come get him.<p>

His prep team had made him up. There was no mirror in the room and he couldn't see what he looked like, but he didn't really care. What did it matter? He wasn't playing these Games to win. His black hair had been messed around with way too much, in his opinion, and they'd even considered giving him contacts so his eyes wouldn't look so grey. They had sprayed on some sort of tanning thing to make his skin darker than it was. He hadn't complained; he didn't really want to talk, and they'd filled his silence with words of their own, talk of parties he'd never go to and the latest fashion and gossip about people he'd never heard of and never hoped to hear of again. They hadn't seemed to mind that in the time he'd been with them he'd said maybe three words in all. It hardly mattered.

He looked up at the door as it opened slowly. A young woman with dark glossy brown hair piled in an intricate knot at the top of her head was entering the room, holding a bundle of fabric in her hands. She gave Fang a faint smile, and he nodded at her. "Hello," she said. "I'm your stylist. My name is Hema."

"Fang," he said in reply, and she nodded, coming a bit closer to him. She held out the fabric, and he looked at it, mildly interested in spite of himself. It wasn't actually a coal miner's outfit, like he'd expected. It was brightly colored and looked as though it had… were those feathers?

"Everyone does the coal mining outfits," Hema said, "And those are so tacky. I thought this year; we could focus on the canary you bring down with you when you go into the mines." She watched him carefully. "Do you like it?" She asked anxiously. "I could change it, if you want…"

He shook his head wordlessly and took the outfit from her. It was a shirt made of bright green feathers and simple beige pants, with a yellow-feathered headdress to match. Hema gave him a tiny smile and moved towards the doors.

"I'll wait outside while you change," she said in a tiny voice, and slipped out of the room. Fang pulled off the robe he'd been wearing and slipped into his chariot outfit. It was actually quite comfortable, and fit him nicely. He put on the headdress carefully, and smoothed down the yellow feathers into his hair. He imagined that he looked quite stupid, but again, he couldn't bring himself to care.

Hema knocked. "Come in," he called, and she opened the door. When she saw him, her already pale face went very white, and she gasped.

"You look great!" She exclaimed. "So much better than I ever imagined!" She rushed up to him immediately and began fussing with the headdress. "Here, put on these shoes," she said, brandishing a pair of beige shoes that matched the pants. He slipped them onto his feet, and she smiled happily. "Just perfect," she sighed. "District Twelve is going to look just great this year. You should see your District Partner." _Ah, yes. Cypress. _Fang didn't really like her, especially after she snapped at him for being so "freakin' quiet." If it came down to it in the Games, he could probably kill her pretty easily, with only a minor case of guilt.

"Okay," Hema said. "I think you're ready to get out there now. How do you feel?"

Fang shrugged. "Fine," he said. Hema's enthusiastic grin dimmed a bit, but she took a deep breath and clapped him on the shoulder.

"I'm glad to hear that," she said sincerely. "Now let's get going! I have some ideas for you and Cypress in the chariot." She herded Fang out of the room and down a long corridor in the Training Center that probably led to the stables eventually. Fang had no idea how he was going to figure out this place. _Well, I don't really have to; I'll be figuring out the arena soon enough._

"Now, I don't want you and Cypress to act like birds in the chariot, okay?" Fang didn't laugh, and her enthusiasm dipped another notch. "Are you two going to be allies?" She asked seriously. He shrugged, and then shook his head. She nodded. "I thought not," she admitted. "Well, if you two don't want to be allies, I wouldn't acknowledge each other in the chariot at all. Are you going to be strong and silent for your interview?" Fang hadn't really thought about it, but strong and silent sounded like him. He nodded. "Well, then I would suggest that you stare straight ahead in your chariot. Don't wave to the crowd. Try to show them your strength. Don't react to anything they yell or throw at you." Fang took a deep breath. That was exactly what he'd been planning to do anyway; he hadn't realized that it was a specific strategy.

He nodded to show his assent, and the Hema lapsed into an awkward silence. _Perhaps she's thinking about how I'll probably be dead in a few weeks. _They stepped into an elevator, and Hema pressed a button with her forefinger. The elevator started smoothly, carrying Hema and Fang to the bottom of the Training Center. _Well, now I know one pace to go. Too bad I can't escape from here; but I'd probably get nabbed by Peacekeepers before I took two steps out of the building. _He sighed deeply. _What would be the point, anyway? I don't exactly have much of a life to go home to._

The elevator dinged, and the doors swished open. They were facing another long corridor, although if Fang listened carefully he could hear the murmur of voices. _We must be getting close._

They headed down the corridor together, Hema still silent. She turned down one branch of the corridor and he followed, the noise level getting significantly louder. Fang thought he could hear the sound of horses whinnying and nervous voices, and in the background a roar that could only be the people of the Capitol gathering to watch the pawns in their Games…

Hema stopped in front of a set of huge sliding doors. She looked Fang in the eye, chocolate-brown eyes warm. "I… I think you can do it, Fang," she said seriously. "I think you can win." He blinked.

"…Thanks," he said. She smiled a true smile and moved to the side, letting Fang into the doors that were going to transport him to the first leg of the Games.

* * *

><p>Soleil Nike Callwyn leaned against her chariot and watched as a tall boy walked into the stables. He walked over to the chariots for District Twelve, and she lost interest and turned away.<p>

She looked over at her district partner. He was standing next to her, leaning against one of the snow-white horses that would be pulling their creamy-colored chariot. Soleil had vaguely known him from District One; his name was Landon Nodean and he was pretty nice, all things considering. He reminded her painfully of Jansen, though, and every time she remembered Jansen and everything he'd meant to her, her heart ached.

She remembered the night under the old oak tree most of all whenever she thought of her once-best friend. They'd been sitting quietly together, watching the stars. They didn't often just sit; they both loved to joke around and act stupid. But tonight felt different, somehow. Especially since it was the night before the reaping that would steal Jansen forever, and the last night Soleil talked to her best friend.

_Hey, Soleil? _Jansen had asked.

_What do you want? _She'd replied rudely, and they both laughed. But then Jansen's face turned serious, and he sighed.

_I want you to have this, _he'd said, moving her hair away from her neck and gently clasping a necklace around her tanned throat. It was the owl necklace that he wore everywhere he went, and Soleil shook her head.

_That's yours, Jansen. I'm not going to take it. _She already knew that he wasn't going to take no for an answer, though. She could tell by the faint line on his forehead and the tiny downward curve of his eyebrows that he was scared about the reapings, and wanted her to have something to remember him by, just in case. As it turned out, she was very glad she'd taken the pendant, as it would be the last thing Jansen ever gave her.

Her mind returned to the present, and she stroked the necklace's chain. Even now, it was hidden under her dress; she'd refused to take it off. Her prep team had been mad, but she wasn't going to part with the necklace, even for a second.

She looked down at herself. Her leonine, muscular frame looked frankly stunning in the white gown studded with jewels that she wore. On her head was a crown with transparent spires of glass, and diamond earrings dangled by her cheeks. Her shoes were white heels, to make her look taller than 5'5", and she wore long white gloves with a diamond ring on each finger. She moved one leg and sighed at the way she could see the muscles moving under her dress. It was very form-fitting and low-cut, showing off her curves. She had to admit that she liked it a lot.

Landon was wearing a suit studded with jewels, and looked every inch as attractive as she. She found herself sidling close to him, although she didn't know why. _It's because he reminds me of Jansen, _she realized. _He makes me feel… safe. Which is weird, because I barely know him._

He turned when he saw her coming closer, and smiled. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied. "How are you?"

"Good, considering that I'm probably about to die." Most people wouldn't have found this statement funny, but Soleil recognized the humor and laughed. "And how are you?" Landon continued.

"Good, considering that I'm probably about to die," she replied. They both laughed.

Landon looked at her dress and smiled. "I have to say, you really look stunning tonight."

Soleil grinned. "Please. You're so blinding I can barely keep my eyes open," she joked. He looked happy at the compliment, and she smiled. _That's interesting. He seems really happy to be talking with me. _A thought occurred to her, and she cocked her head.

"Do you like me?" She asked. She got her answer immediately as a faint blush colored Landon's cheeks, and his eyes looked startled. He recovered quickly though, and winked at her.

"You're gorgeous," he said. "What's not to like?" She pretend scowled and slapped him playfully on the arm, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away.

"What about my personality?" She sniffed.

"Wonderful," Landon reassured her, and she turned back around, grinning in spite of herself. _I really like this guy. He's cute, he's funny, and he reminds me of Jansen. _

They both turned as a Capitol man walked into the center of the stage. "Attention, tributes!" He yelled. "Will everyone please get into their chariots?"

"We'd better get in," Soleil said. Landon hopped into the chariot and offered her his hand. She took it and he pulled her into the chariot next to him. Instead of releasing his hand, though, she squeezed it tighter. "Are you going to be a Career?"

Landon slowly shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Actually, I was kind of hoping that I could have an alliance with you."

Soleil smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that," she said, releasing him. "Let's be allies." He nodded his assent, and the horses started forward, into the late night lights of the Capitol.

* * *

><p>The roar from the crowd was deafening. Landon had to resist the urge to cover his ears; instead looking over to see how Soleil was doing. She seemed to be in her element; blowing kisses to the crowd and waving dramatically. Someone threw her a bouquet of white roses and she snatched them from the air, sniffing them. She removed one rose and held it delicately in her glove before throwing the rest of the bouquet back. A hundred hands reached out for it. <em>She's doing fine, <em>he thought, relieved. _She'll definitely get sponsors. And it's her I have to worry about; not me. That's why I volunteered for District One; to hopefully get closer to her and to make sure she comes home safely. And now we're going to be allies!_

His heart felt as though it were soaring, and he began to wave solemnly to the crowd and even wink to get their attention. The crowd's screams were immediate, and about a thousand young women jumped to their feet, crying and begging him to come back to them after winning the Games. He bowed to one of them, and he smiled as she fell over in a faint. By the time he started blowing a few kisses; his eardrums were probably scarred for life and would never be the same.

He didn't know how many chariots were out of the stable by now; all he knew was that they were soon going to start their circuit around the City Circle soon, and then they'd have to listen to President Snow's speech. He already knew that he wasn't going to be listening; he'd much rather be thinking about his new ally. Landon had had a crush on Soleil for… quite some time. Unfortunately for him, she'd started dating some thug named Zuko, and he'd never gotten a chance with her. But he was here now, and Zuko wasn't. This was his chance; his one opportunity to get closer to Soleil, and he was going to take it.

He turned to look at her and she glanced at him, eyes sparkling. On an impulse, he grabbed her hand and raised it in the air. For a second, her arm was limp, but then she responded and clutched his fingers tightly, shaking their hands in the air together. The crowd roared their approval, and Soleil gave him a secret smile before dropping his hand.

The horses snorted and stopped the chariot, and he realized that they'd made it to the President's podium. The young President Snow smiled amiably down at his tributes, waving at the Capitol citizens and tributes alike. Landon waved back impulsively, and the President leveled a smile directly at him before his gaze traveled elsewhere.

"Citizens of Panem!" Snow began, and there was a truly deafening roar. "I welcome you to the beginning of the 54th annual Hunger Games!" The Capitol roared again, and Landon wondered how much more roaring he could take. Probably not very much.

"I am unhappy to announce that last year's Head Gamemaker resigned his post after unfortunate incidents regarding last year's Hunger Games." Landon knew about that; it was big news in District One. Apparently, the citizens of the Capitol hadn't been happy that their victor hadn't actually killed the last girl attacking her. They felt that the Head Gamemaker should have stopped the mutt from attacking the girl so that Mara could have finished her off. Landon had a bad feeling that the Head Gamemaker hadn't resigned, but had simply disappeared instead.

"Luckily for all of us, our newest Head Gamemaker is none other than Likian Mross!" The scream was so loud that Landon winced a little. He knew about Likian from his father's Capitol magazines; she was an already famous actress in the Capitol who had apparently always wanted to get to be Head Gamemaker. He felt sick; whenever there was a new Head Gamemaker the odds in a tributes favor dipped quite a bit. Likian got to her feet and made a small curtsy; she was strikingly thin, quite tall and very beautiful. There was also a sinister gleam in her eye that alerted Landon to the fact that this year's Hunger Games wasn't going to be easy.

"Likian would like to come up and say a few words to you all, so let's give her a big hand!" Likian clacked to the podium amidst the cheers and smiled at the audience.

"As you all know," she began, "I've always wanted to be Head Gamemaker. But I never expected that my dream would actually come true!" She laughed into the microphone. She looked down at the tributes in their chariots, eyes glinting. "Now, tributes of the 54th Hunger Games, I speak directly to you. Since this is my first year, after all, I decided to pull out all the stops. This year's arena is going to be very, very dangerous for all of you." Her smile was terrifying. "So I would suggest that tomorrow in Training you work as hard as possible, because you're going to need it!" The Capitol citizens screamed in delight and Likian good-naturedly gave the stage back to President Snow.

"Now, we all remember why the Hunger Games were put into motion," Snow said. "Each and every death in these Games is the fault of none other than the rebels that threatened to destroy our shining nation." He paused and took a breath. "The Hunger Games is our way of preventing another rebellion from taking place; it is a seal between the Capitol and the Districts; a seal of peace. While the Hunger Games exists, so does Panem. That is why these Games matter so much to all.

"Now, enough of all this serious talk." The audience laughed. "I can promise to all of my citizens that this year's Hunger Games is going to be amazing. Not only is Likian a wonderful actress; she's quite a Gamemaker, too!" A camera zoomed in on Likian and her face was projected onto a huge screen. She blushed and waved the camera away with her hand, obviously pleased with President Snow's compliment.

"That's all I'm going to say for now, so good luck, all of my young tributes! Tune in for the interviews and training scores soon enough, and may the 54th Hunger Games truly begin!" The audience celebrated, screaming and cheering, and with a jolt the horses pulling the District One chariot started up, trotting them back to the stables. Landon was less upbeat on the way back, although Soleil was still her dramatic self. He was thinking about the Games, and how hard it was going to be to protect Soleil if these Games were really "special." Special for the Capitol was likely going to be truly horrific.

They entered the darkness of the stables and immediately Landon and Soleil's mentor was there, commenting on how well they did and how it was obvious that one of them was going to win. Soleil at least made the pretense of listening, but Landon was too caught up in his thoughts to listen to meaningless prattle.

They headed back to their rooms, everyone but Landon talking about how excited they were to see a rerun of the chariot parade on television. Soleil stood next to Landon in the elevator, and looked at him seriously, talking quietly so their mentor and escort wouldn't notice. "Nervous about the Games?"

"Yes," Landon responded. _For you. _Soleil smiled as though she'd guessed his thought and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek as the elevator doors opened.

"We're going to be fine," she whispered, and sashayed out the door, leaving Landon to stare after her. He hopped out of the elevator as the metal doors shut, and met the curious gaze of his mentor.

"That is one helluva woman," his mentor said, and Landon had to agree.


	5. Training

**Chapter Four is finally here! Two more chapters, and then the Games will begin...**

**This fave tribute thing is really fun! Here are the current winners, with a four way tie... **

**Matt- one vote**

**Lysemet- one vote**

**Seren- one vote**

**Fang- one vote**

**I don't know what I'll do with the winner, but it's fun to know who everybody likes the best! Keep on voting and reviewing, and don't worry! The Hunger Games are almost here!**

* * *

><p>Dillon Murphy looked around the Training Center and sighed. It was the first day of training, and he wanted to get to a weapons station before they were all taken. He walked over to a target range, stocked with knives and spears, and plucked up a knife easily, rolling it around in his palm. He took aim and tossed the knife easily at one of the target dummies, smiling in triumph as the knife sunk into the dummy's face. It shook on its pole and slumped forward, and he decided that if it had been a real person he would've killed it. The errant thought immediately made him feel guilty, though. <em>I'm not going to just kill people like that, <em>he reminded himself. _Unless they're trying to kill me, or if it's absolutely necessary…_

He grinned to himself as he noticed that he'd commanded the attention of most of the people in the Training Center. There weren't that many people there yet; only District One, the girl from Two, Six, the girl from Eight and the girl from Ten were there. And himself and Rylla, of course. Out of all those people, District One was looking at him interestedly, and as he watched they started to whisper to each other. The girl from District Six seemed interested in him too; as he watched a smile curved across her face and she cocked her head at an angle he was pretty sure would really hurt most normal individuals. He looked away from her quickly, but her strange and hauntingly beautiful features remained in his mind even after he'd collected his knives and dropped them in the collection bucket.

He went over to the bow and arrows range next, because he'd never had a chance to train with them and he figured it was now or never. As he was picking up a bow and a quiver of arrows, the girl from District Three walked in, skipping lightly. She stopped when she entered the Training Center and looked around, deciding where to go, apparently. After a while, she spotted Dillon's station and strode over to him, reaching for a bow. She spotted the number 4 pinned to his shirt and the light in her eyes vanished to be replaced by a vapid look. "I've never used these before," she giggled, and twanged the bow string. "Whoops! I need an arrow first!" She giggled and Dillon laughed nervously before replacing his bow and walking away quickly. He really didn't want to get hit by an arrow on his first day in Training.

He walked over to the axe station and quickly hefted one into the air. _Alright, _he thought. _It's sort of like a big, top-heavy knife. I can do this! _He twirled it by the shaft and hurled it at the training dummy. The axe thudded to the ground a few inches from the dummy. _Not bad for the first time, _he thought, going over to retrieve it.

By the time one of the Capitol attendants called a break for lunch, Dillon had managed to lop the head off one of the dummies, and pretty much all of the tributes had shown up. He hovered by the tables awkwardly for a moment, and then shrugged and went to sit by District One. They didn't seem like they were going for the Career angle, and he wanted to see if they were open to allies. He considered Rylla briefly, but didn't really want to; she was nice and all but she wasn't what he was looking for in an ally. District One, though, he was really considering them, and hopefully they were considering him, too.

He seated himself next to the older boy and nodded at him. "Hey," he said conversationally, hoping the boy was friendly. To his relief, the boy grinned at him.

"Hey," he said. "My name's Landon. What about you?"

"I'm Dillon," he said. "I saw you earlier; you're really good with the bow and arrows."

"You're not too bad with the knife, either," Landon replied. "And was that your first time with an axe? Because you were pretty good for the first time."

"Thanks," Dillon said. The girl from District One smiled at him.

"What's your name, carrot top?" She asked.

"Dillon," he said.

"I'm Soleil," she said. "You're damn good with a knife."

"Thanks," he said again, wanting to say something else but not sure what to say. He blinked as the girl from six, the girl from ten and the girl from eleven, the boy from twelve and Rylla all sat themselves at his table. _They don't all want District One, do they? _

"Hey, guys!" Soleil said, looking surprised but interested at all the tributes who'd shown up. "What's up?" The Capitol attendants were putting bowls filled with a frothy orange stew in front of them, and Dillon began to spoon it into his mouth, starving from all his hard work with the axe.

The tributes began to talk amongst themselves, with Soleil and Rylla talking the most and loudest. Soleil was animatedly telling a story about her first time holding a sword, and by the amount of laughter coming from her side of the table it was clear that people thought it was funny. Rylla was telling the boy from District Twelve and a couple of other people about District Four, and Dillon was telling nobody anything.

Dillon felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned to see the girl from District Six sitting next to him, looking at him with luminous blue green eyes. "Hello," she said.

"Hey…" Dillon said nervously. He'd seen her reapings, and he was fairly positive that she was insane. He made up his mind that she definitely when she smiled and cocked her head again. "How do you do that?" He blurted.

"Do what?" She asked, turning her head practically upside down.

"That head thing…" Dillon said, wishing he just hadn't said anything. The girl shrugged, which looked disturbing with her crazy twisted neck.

"What's your name?" She asked, smiling and straightening her neck with a snap.

"I'm Dillon," he said. "What about you?"

"Lysemet," she said, her smile disappearing. She looked around at her surroundings, and chuckled quietly to herself. "Don't you just love it? Soon we're going to be in the arena, and then the fun will really begin."

"I suppose," Dillon said, but it was obvious she wasn't listening anymore. She leaned in and he jumped as her hair tickled his neck.

"I have something for you," she whispered, taking his hand. Their faces were inches apart, and he found his eyes drawn like magnets to hers. He felt her pressing something into his palm, and then she released him and whipped away, at the same time a Capitol attendant asked the tributes to get back to training so they could clear the tables. Before he could react, Lysemet was at the snare table. He started over, but jumped as someone laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Dillon," Soleil said. "I just wanted to let you know that Landon and I have accepted you into our alliance."

"Oh wow, that's… That's great! Um, is there going to be, you know; anyone else?" Soleil glanced over her shoulder, and shook her head. Then, grinning, she walked over to the edible plants table where Landon was waiting for her.

Dillon slowly uncurled his palm and stared at what Lysemet had given him. For a moment, he blinked at it, surprised. Then, slowly, he smiled, and nodded at Lysemet once, hard.

Maybe the Games weren't going to be so bad, after all.

* * *

><p>Rylla Stevens was getting seriously bored.<p>

She had been through all the stations in Training, and now she was back where she'd started, stabbing her trident viciously into a training dummy. It kept on writhing in a disturbingly life-like way, and once in a while she imagined blood pouring out of it, and a human face on its grey surface. With a sigh, she slammed her trident once more on its neck, and watched as the head popped off and rolled away.

Rylla wasn't exactly sure what she'd be showing the judges yet, and the judging was tomorrow. Probably she'd throw a few tridents; maybe make a snare or a basket or something. She was pretty much guaranteed to get a good score, being from District Four and all.

She grinned back at Fang, who was hanging around waiting for his turn. He'd started following her around in the beginning of Training, and she'd already asked him to be allies. He'd said yes, and Rylla had been pretty happy. She liked Fang well enough; he was a good person to talk to, especially since he actually listened to her. He himself pretty much didn't talk at all, but Rylla was able to fill any of the silences between them with idle chatter of things that didn't really matter. The point was that he was strong and probably dangerous, and would make for good protection in the arena.

"Your turn, Fang," she said, tossing him the trident. He caught it by the shaft awkwardly and went to work poking at the dummy. Rylla sighed. Fang was a genius at wrestling and probably knew a hell of a lot on how to kill someone with hands and feet alone, but weapons were not his thing. She called out encouragement and relaxed against the box that held the tridents, screeching as her back poked into one of the spires. Fang immediately looked around to see if something was wrong. "No, I just leaned into a spire," Rylla called, and he rolled his eyes, his lips twitching. She smiled too.

She blinked as a younger girl with sad eyes and an eleven on her shirt strolled up to the trident station and reached for one of the weapons. She went for one of the bigger tridents, and Rylla shook her head at the girl's stance. "No, no, no," she said, swooping onto the girl's hands and rearranging them until she held the trident in a firm grip. _Of course there are no trainers here, and of course I have to help. But this is the right thing to do; this girl seriously needs it._

The girl looked up at Rylla with huge, shocked black eyes. "Thanks…" She said slowly, sounding suspicious.

"Hey, it's cool," Rylla said, grinning at her. "I'm Rylla. How about you?"

"I'm Rosie," the girl said.

"Hey Fang!" Rylla called. "Move over and give Rosie a chance with the dummy!" Fang looked back at the two of them quizzically, but did as he was bidden and moved to the side. Rylla snatched a trident of her own and walked with Rosie to the dummy. "Alright," she said. "When you're going for a powerful blow, aiming for the chest can spear their heart, so if you're in a very close range, you should aim for the chest." She demonstrated, walking close to the dummy and then stabbing her trident into its torso. The trident went right through the dummy and so did her hand, until she was shoulder-deep in dummy guts.

Rosie looked at her. "Why are you helping me?" She asked; her voice sad. "We're going to be enemies later." Rylla's eyes widened, surprised at the brutal honesty of the girl. A tiny smile tugged at the corners of her lips, and she shrugged.

"Because," she said softly.

"Hey; you're from District Four, right?" Both Rosie and Rylla turned to see a girl with a ten pinned to her shirt standing behind them, holding a trident. She smirked at Rylla. "I guess the trident makes sense, then."

"Yeah," Rylla said.

"I'm Garnet," the girl said. "And you're Rylla, right?"

"Yeah," Rylla said again.

"So," Garnet said conspiratorially. "How are you coming along with allies?"

"Pretty well," Rylla replied. There was a flash in Garnet's eyes, as though she'd expected Rylla to ask her to be allies outright, and was offended that she hadn't. Her gaze traveled to Rosie, and she snorted.

"You can't be serious. You're going to be in an alliance with _her_?"

Rylla narrowed her eyes. "Yes, I am," she said tightly. "She's got a lot of potential, unlike some of the people I see before me."

Garnet's nostrils flared, and she whipped around and stalked off, dropping her trident in the collection bin. Rylla continued to stare daggers at her receding back. "Bitch," she muttered under her breath.

She looked away from Garnet to see Rosie looking at her, eyes wide. "You, you really mean it?" She asked.

"Mean what?" Rylla asked, still mostly preoccupied with her confrontation with Garnet.

"The ally thing…" Rosie said, looking downcast. "But I understand if you were just saying it to get rid of Garnet; that's what anyone would have done…" She trailed off under Rylla's patronizing stare.

"You really think I'd do something like that?" Rylla asked. "I meant every word I said." She smiled at the tiny spark of hope in Rosie's eyes. "Fang!" She called, and the boy strode over. "This is our new ally. Her name's Rosie."

"Hey," Fang and Rosie said, simultaneously. _Wow, _Rylla thought. _Out of everyone, I manage to pick the two tributes who talk the least. Well, I guess I talk the most, so that sort of evens things out._

"Alright, Rosie," she said. "What are your skills?"

"Well, I guess I'm pretty strong," she said hesitantly, "And I do know how to feed myself from the earth, being from District Eleven and all." Rylla smiled brightly.

"That's really great! Neither of us knows how to find edible plants; I kept on failing the test. You're going to be the prefect addition to our team!" Rosie smiled a true smile, and Rylla put a hand to her shoulder, guiding her to a practice dummy. "Now let's see how good you are with a trident."

* * *

><p>Merryn Enya Night's palms were sweating like crazy, and she felt close to fainting. Her District Partner had just gone in for his Training Scores, meaning that she was next. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists, relaxing into her chair.<p>

_Alright, I'm just gonna go over my plan in my head, to calm myself down. First, I'm gonna show them how well I can handle myself in the air; like jumping on all that training equipment and not touching the ground. Then I'll jump down and go over to a dummy and show them how I could kill it with just my fists and feet. And then, hopefully, I'll be done. I'm definitely not going to show them my secret weapon._

Merryn rubbed her eyes instinctively upon thinking about her secret weapon. It really was a secret; she'd never told a soul about her ability. Of course, she hadn't been born being able to see perfectly in the dark; that had been an accident. Apparently, following your father to his laboratory in District Five was a bad idea. Apparently, the fumes from the laboratories could do weird things to your eyes, like blind your mother and make your own eyes night-vision as well as day-vision. And apparently it was a bad idea to think your father would still love you after that, because he'd probably just send you and your mother to live in District Nine so he wouldn't have to feel guilty anymore.

Merryn picked dismally at the nine on her shirt. _This sucks, _she thought sadly. _I'm not even really a citizen of District Nine, but I'm representing them in the Games. That doesn't seem fair to me at all._

Her district partner didn't seem too interested in an alliance, which made sense; he barely knew her. But Merryn soon found that nobody else seemed very interested in an alliance either. She'd been gravitating towards the boy from District Six, Seren, but he never offered to be her ally and didn't seem to trust her, either. _And I'm not allying myself with someone who doesn't trust me, _Merryn thought. _How can I trust someone if they don't even trust me?_

So she was going in alone. At first she'd been scared by the prospect, but she'd come to accept and even like the idea of not having an ally in the Games. _The only person I have to look out for is myself, _she thought. _All the tributes with allies will be spreading out their focus, but I'll just be looking out for me. Also, without any allies I can do whatever I like in the arena, with no argument. Yeah, not having an ally is clearly the better choice._

She blinked as the door opened. "Merryn Enya Night!" A Capitol attendant called, already heading back inside.

"I can do this," Merryn said to herself, standing up and walking towards the door.

She stepped into the center of the Training Center and smiled at the Gamemakers. They were sitting comfortably at a long table, eating their fill of a feast that Merryn thought looked incredible. She licked her lips and turned away, leaping fluidly onto one of the tables. She balanced on the tips of her toes and spread her arms wide before hopping lightly onto a bench press, twirling delicately so as not to lose her balance. Next was a rack of weights, which Merryn hopped onto. It was a tough jump and the rack screeched backwards the tiniest bit. Merryn took the opportunity to glance at the Gamemakers. A few of them were still eating away, but most were watching her. They didn't look completely interested, but at least they were watching.

From the rack of weights, she jumped onto the shoulders of a dummy. That one was incredibly tricky and she nearly fell off, her hands scrabbling at its neck. Even as she started to slide down, she kicked off its chest and jerked its head roughly to the side as though she'd meant to show the Gamemakers how easily she could break someone's neck. She had to admit that the effect looked impressive; the dummy's plush neck hanging loosely by a couple of threads. She sneaked a peek at the Gamemakers and saw one or two of them nodding. The slight movement made a burst of hope well up in her chest, and she moved on to the next dummy.

This time, she stayed on the ground and faced it down for a moment before slamming into its stomach with a well-placed kick. Before it rattled back into position, she grabbed it by the head and kneed it in the throat, her long black hair swirling around her head. _I bet the Gamemakers are surprised; this dummy is almost a foot taller than I am and I'm still beating it! Of course, it can't move, but I imagine most willowy, short fourteen year-old girls don't opt to beat the brains out of dummies during the judging. This will probably earn me a decent score._

She put both hands on the top of the dummy's neck and hoisted herself up, jumping onto its shoulders. She wrapped her legs around its throat and squeezed. _If this were a real person, they'd be fairly asphyxiated by now. _As she was squeezing, she gouged at the dummy's imaginary eyes and slammed her fist into its imaginary nose, once, twice, three times. Then she put her hands on the back of the dummy's head and pushed downward sharply. The dummy jerked forward, bending of its pole completely, and is it began to fall she released its neck with her legs and gathered her feet onto its shoulders. It hit the ground just as she sprang up; landing on her own two feet in front of its thoroughly destroyed body. _Take that, dummy, _she thought.

Now quite a few of the Gamemakers were nodding in approval, and Merryn bowed low, already anxious to find out her score. _I wonder what I got. Hopefully not too low of a score, or I won't get sponsors, but hopefully not too high of a score or I'll get targeted! A seven would be good; if I get a seven I'm going to be set._

The Gamemaker in the middle of the table cleared his throat loudly. "You may go now, Miss Night," he said formally.

Merryn bowed her head. "Thank you," she said, heading for the doors. She couldn't resist a parting blow to the dummy, kicking it once in the head. It shuddered back and she smiled. _I did it; I really did it! I think I must have made some kind of impression on the Gamemakers. Now all I have to do is go back to my apartments and watch the scores._

Merryn opened the doors and stepped outside. She shut the doors and immediately and smiled to herself as she walked towards the elevator. A burst of excitement took hold, and she performed a short dance mostly consisting of her punching the air with her fist. "I did it, I did it, I did it, and I better get out of here before some Gamemaker chases me away…"

She entered the elevator and pressed the button for floor 9. The elevator shot upwards, and Merryn tapped her foot impatiently. In truth, she just wanted to get back to her apartments so she could talk to her escort and mentor about how well she'd done. She felt that it was time to talk interview strategy too, and she wanted to get that done before the interviews tomorrow night. Just the thought of the interviews made her shiver; she still didn't have a clue what her angle was. Hopefully her escort and mentor would be able to coach her on what to do, but she couldn't be sure that she wouldn't go up to the stage and just screw everything up by not saying anything at all.

_No, I won't do that. I'll just tell the Capitol what I think. It can't be that hard, right?_

The elevator doors opened and Merryn stepped out, walking towards her rooms. She stepped inside her own private room and stripped off her black tee shirt and leggings, hopping into the shower instantly. She was way too sweaty to present herself to her picky escort, who would screech if he detected the faintest whiff of body odor. Merryn sighed. Semon wasn't evil, but sometimes he could be a pain.

She finished rubbing soap over herself and rinsed off, wishing that they had a bathtub instead of a shower. Merryn wasn't the greatest swimmer in the world, but both of her houses had had fairly large bathtubs that she would paddle around in. She didn't have any idea what the arena would be like, but it would've been nice to have some more swim practice before the Games started.

She got out of the shower and dried herself quickly, not bothering to do anything with her hair. She padded quietly back into her room and snatched the first thing in her closet, a rose-pink dress that looked strange against her olive skin tone. _At least Semon will approve of this, _she thought. _It's very Capitol._

She headed out of her room and almost immediately bumped into her mentor, Jake, who had apparently been coming to get her. "Merryn!" He said, brown eyes shining. "There you are! Your district partner just finished telling us about his judging; now it's your turn."

"Alright," Merryn said amiably, following Jake into the living room. Her district partner and Semon were both there, talking about the Games. Semon smiled and rose to his feet when he saw Merryn.

"Merryn!" He exclaimed, grabbing her hand and pushing her into a seat. "Tell us everything! You, get out." Her district partner left the room sullenly.

Merryn smiled. "Well, first I hopped around on the training equipment, like you guys said."

"Oh good," Jake said. "I didn't know if you would because you said you preferred to stay on the ground, but even if you don't hop around in the trees during the Games you probably impressed the Gamemakers."

"Let her finish!" Semon exclaimed, smacking Jake lightly across the arm.

"Okay, sorry," Jake laughed and Merryn cleared her throat. Both young men immediately snapped to attention and looked at her.

"Anyway," Merryn continued, "Then I beat the crap out of a dummy. And then I was done."

"Beat the crap out of it?" Semon gasped. "Merryn!"

"Sorry," she said. "I meant to say, 'I beat the _crud _out of a dummy.'"

"Better," Semon said.

"What do you mean by that, exactly?" Jake asked.

"Well, I kneed it in the throat and kicked it a lot, and then I jumped on its back and started gouging out its eyes and punching it. Then I squeezed my legs around its neck, and then I broke its neck."

Jake whistled. "Not bad," he said. "That should impress the Gamemakers. You should get a pretty good score."

"What's next?" Semon sighed. "A pretty girl like you should be having fancy parties at the Capitol! Leave the Hunger Games to someone like your district partner; nobody's ever going to miss _him_."

Merryn bristled slightly at the comment, but said nothing. It wouldn't do to get on her escort's bad side, if he had one.

The remainder of the evening was spent in anxious silence, all of the apartments' occupants waiting for the training scores. Merryn was playing with her token, an anklet with black beads and a little bat on it, when she heard Semon's screech. "THE TRAINING SCORES! GET IN HERE, NOW!"

Merryn leaped off her bed and was in the room faster than she would've thought possible. _There's another thing I'm good at; sprinting. _She plopped down on the couch next to Semon; electric green eyes glued to the screen. She rolled said eyes as President Snow appeared on the screen. She'd had enough of boring speeches; she just wanted to know her score.

By the time he finished, the excitement in the room had dulled quite a bit. It started again when a picture of the girl from District One and a ten appeared. "Nice score," Jake said appreciatively. "She's gonna be a tough competitor."

Merryn fidgeted anxiously as District Two, and then Three, Four, Five and Six appeared on screen. _Oh, there's Seren, _she thought to herself, and winced appreciatively at Seren's five. And then they were moving on, past Six and into Seven, and then Eight, and then…

"I got a three?" Merryn's district partner said, and Semon hastened to console him while Merryn glared at the screen. Her district partner's face was disappearing, and in his place was…

"A nine?" Merryn gasped. "I got a nine!"

"That's amazing, Merryn!" Jake congratulated her, and she smiled confidently.

With a score that good, Merryn was going to get sponsors. And with sponsors, there was no way she was going to lose.


	6. Interviews

**Well, things are certainly getting heated! There's one more chapter after this, and then the Games will begin!**

**The Fave Tribute Contest is moving right along; thanks for voting everyone! FoofToldMe suggested that I make a poll on my profile page which I subsequently did, so from now on if you want to vote go there. Right now, here's the list.**

**Seren Alyona, in first place with five votes.**

**Lysemet Sprintyarrow, in second place with four votes.**

**Matt Grove and Fang in third place with two votes each.**

**Continue to vote, you guys! I don't even know why I'm doing this, but I think it's fun...**

**And thanks for reviewing my story so much! You guys rock; seriously!**

* * *

><p>"Interview angle? I've got nothing," Echo Garnett admitted, looking her mentor with a tiny frown on her face. "I was thinking that I could make it up as I go along."<p>

"That is a terrible idea," Leai Bren said immediately. "No one 'makes it up as they go along' in the Hunger Games, sweetheart. If you think like that, you're gonna die and be an embarrassment to everyone from District Two."

Echo frowned. "Any advice, then?" She asked. "If you think my idea is so bad, you should have one of your own."

Leai smirked and tipped her chair back, flaming red hair scorching Echo's green eyes. "Isn't it obvious? With _your _attitude, there's only one thing you could be."

"What's that?" Echo asked.

Leai laughed. "Simple-minded, of course!" She said, eyes glinting maliciously.

Echo rolled her eyes. "Okay, it's obvious you hate me," she grumbled. "But could you at least try to help me?"

Leai shrugged. "I guess," she said. "I don't want District Two to look _too _bad this year." Echo sighed. It was unfortunate that she had to take so much lip from Leai, but getting on Leai's bad side could get her killed in the arena.

"Alright," Leia said. "We're going to have to try some angles. How about… no, you're not pretty enough for sexy." Echo ground her teeth. "I guess we could try dangerous. Sound good?"

"Sure," Echo said confidently.

"Alright," Leai said. "I'm going to be Caesar Flickerman." She cleared her throat and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table between her and Echo. "And you must be Echo Garnett! It's a pleasure to have you on the stage!"

"Damn straight," Echo growled, and then winced. Leai winced too, but continued.

"So you volunteered to be the female tribute for District Two. Why did you do it?"

"I wanted to win the Games," Echo said. "I'm going to crush these wimps!" She punched her fist and yelped as she smacked it into the side of her chair. "Crap!" She moaned, jumping to her feet and shaking her pained hand like a maniac.

Leai looked up at her, her face a mask of utter derision. "You suck," she said. "Like, a lot."

"Alright, then let's try something else," Echo said. "We don't have time to sit around and talk about what an idiot I am. The interviews are tonight!"

Slowly, Leai nodded. "Alright," she said. "Why don't we try… confident and excited?"

"Alright," Echo said.

"And you must be Echo Garnett! It's a pleasure to have you on the stage!"

"I know; I'm really excited too!"

"Okay; no," Leai said immediately. "Why was your voice so squeaky?"

"I don't know; I thought it was appropriate!"

"Anyone could see that you were faking it. You have to make the Capitol people believe that you're sincere. Otherwise, no one will sponsor you."

Echo sighed. "I've got an idea," she said.

"Do you now? Well, that's a surprise!"

"Could you stop for five minutes?" Echo snapped, and was delighted to see Leai's full red lips close primly. "I think that I'd do well acting sarcastic and arrogant."

"Well, geez, I wonder who you got that idea from," Leai snorted, and Echo grinned.

"Like that! Exactly! Good work; Leai!" The woman frowned.

"Alright, let's get on with it," she sulked, clearly unhappy about being one-upped. "And you must be Echo Garnett! It's a pleasure to have you onstage!"

Echo smirked. "Fancy place you got here, huh?"

Leai's lips twitched, as though Echo had finally made her proud, for once. "Well, this is the Capitol!" She said, in a fake jovial tone.

Echo laughed brutally. "I could just faint," she said. Leai nodded slightly.

"Now; the Games. How are you feeling knowing that there's going to be a new Head Gamemaker?"

Echo shrugged. "As long as she knows that I'm going to be the winner; it's all good, right?"

Leai burst out laughing and clapped her hands. "Echo, Echo, Echo," she said. "I think we've discovered your angle."

"You like it, then?" Echo asked proudly. She thought she'd done pretty well, considering.

"Hell yes I like it!" Leai exclaimed. "What made you think of sarcastic, anyway?"

"Isn't that how I always am?"

Leai gave her a strange look. "Are you kidding?"

"I wasn't," Echo muttered. Leai sighed.

"It doesn't matter where you got the idea. Just act like that tonight; and you'll get a ton of sponsors." She sighed dramatically. "Of course, you would've gotten a lot more if you'd joined the Careers…"

"Remember when I said that there isn't a Career pack this year?" Echo asked. "Well, yeah. That hasn't changed."

"I just don't understand it," Leai said dismally. "This is the freaking Hunger Games! How is there not a Career pack?"

"District One and the boy from Four have their own little alliance, and the girl from Four is doing her own alliance thing. And my district partner is an idiot. There's a reason nobody volunteered for him; and that's because they all want to see him die. He cries whenever someone dies during the Games! I'm not going to be in an alliance with him."

"Then why'd you have to accept that girl from District Twelve, Echo? I mean; it's District Twelve, come on!"

Echo shook her head. "Cypress is _scary_," she said. "She's pretty much the only person in the Games I have any respect for right now. It's too bad she wasn't born a Career, but I swear that together we're going to crush the competition."

"You'd better," Leai said, propping her feet against the table. "Now get out; the sight of you is making me sick."

The rest of the day went by in what felt like a blur to Echo. She worked with her escort, Sruya, for a bit, but didn't learn a lot, except for how to walk in heels. She had no idea what her interview outfit was going to be, but Sruya said that it was very likely heels would be involved, and Echo just had to trust her. Then she was back with Leai for some final Game preparations; her strategy being the key factor in their talk. They quickly worked out that Echo would be heading into the Bloodbath, which she could hopefully hold for a while. Leai was hoping that Echo could set up a sort of base at the Cornucopia; with all the good supplies. Leai reluctantly helped plan for Cypress too; telling Echo that the younger, more inexperienced girl should grab a few things and fight for a short while and then pretend to escape, only to return after the Bloodbath. The plan would probably work, seeing as Cypress and Echo hadn't told anyone about their alliance. Hopefully, that would open up some surprise attack opportunities later as well.

Echo had to admit; she was the tiniest bit excited about the Games. The prospect of killing didn't scare her much; she had volunteered to be a Career, after all. And she had a gut feeling that she was going to win. Cypress might prove to be dangerous later on in the Games, but Echo was fairly positive that when it came down to it she would be able to kill Cypress pretty easily and with few regrets. She wouldn't feel totally great about killing her ally, but she'd rather Cypress die than herself, obviously.

When the time came for Echo to get her interview outfit, her nerves were twanging and she was filled with energy. She bounced lightly as she sat in a chair in her room, waiting for her stylist, Brom, to show up with her outfit. _I want to look nice. The Capitol people always sponsor the nicer-looking people. I mean; I'll obviously get sponsors because I'm from District Two, but it would be nice to get more than most normal tributes get._

There was a soft knock on the door, and Brom poked his head in the door, smiling nervously. Echo sighed. _Forget looking nice. This is Brom. He dressed me in a baggy white jumpsuit for the chariot rides; do I even want to know what he's got for me?_

"May I come in?" Brom asked politely. Echo forced a smile onto her face.

"Sure," she said, and Brom entered the room. She peered to see what he held in his hands, but there was a cover over it, preventing her from seeing it well.

"Hey," he said, bringing one hand up in an awkward wave. "This is your outfit, so you'd better put it on!" He laughed, a bead of sweat trickling down his face. _Jeez, _Echo thought. _Even if I hate it, I'm not going to freak out at him! He ought to know better._

"Let me see!" Echo demanded, and Brom nodded, pulling off the cover gently. Echo found herself holding her breath. _Please, not something awful, _she thought desperately. _If it's really bad I'll just put something from my room on, but I don't want to. Let it look decent…_

She blinked in surprise at the swathes of light brown fabric in Brom's hands. They matched her hair color perfectly, and she breathed a sigh of relief. _So far, so good._

She gently picked it up and found herself nodding. It was a simple sundress, with two thick straps for her shoulders, a fitted bodice, and a long skirt that swished gently as she twirled the dress through the air. _Okay, so it's not amazing, but its way better than the jumpsuit. I'm not going to look like a total idiot tonight._

"Do… do… do you like it?" Brom asked, looking sickly in the light. Slowly, Echo nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "It's nice, Brom." He smiled in relief and looked as though he might faint from relief too, but then took a deep breath and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a think band of leather and slipped it onto Echo's left wrist. The leather was the same color as her dress, and it added a little something to her appearance.

"I have shoes, too," he said, pulling out flats made of leather. Echo grinned; no heels after all. She slipped into them and marveled at herself in the mirror for a moment before stopping dead. She looked sweet and kind; nothing like the sarcastic bitch she was trying to portray. She sighed. _I'll just have to play up my character more than ever, _she thought. _I can do it; it's not going to be that hard._

"We should be getting over to the stage soon," Brom said.

"Right," Echo agreed, still staring in the mirror. "Hey; is my district partner dressed like this?"

"No; he's wearing a suit," Brom said, seemingly bolder now that he knew Echo liked the dress. "We tried to make you and him look different because you're not going to be allies."

"That was a good call," Echo complimented him, twirling a bit. The dress swished around her legs, and she winked at herself in the mirror; the dress was growing on her. In its simplicity, it was actually pretty nice, and it made the focus of the evening her, not what she was wearing. Brom could've actually helped her with his mediocre fashion skills!

"Well, we'd better get going," Brom said, checking his watch.

"Yeah," Echo agreed. Her stomach twisted with nerves, and she stopped for a moment to steel herself.

_I'm Echo Garnett, and I'm going to blow the Capitol away tonight, _she told herself firmly. Then she headed after Brom to where Caesar Flickerman and her audience awaited her.

* * *

><p>James Austin Mocking was <em>not <em>nervous.

He glanced at the other tributes, twittering away to their friends about what they were going to be saying and how anxious they were. But _him_? No nerves at all. He was ready for tonight, and had been ever since he'd been reaped for the Hunger Games. His district partner, Rosie Fullmoon, had looked super-sad and depressed about the whole thing; next to her he'd looked amazingly confident, smiling into the cameras.

He looked down at his suit and brushed it down. It was black, with shiny black shoes and a red tie, and he looked just as dashing as he'd hoped he would. Of course, the whole dashing thing didn't work so well when he had no one to impress.

He'd tried to get an ally, but nobody had seemed right to him. Most of the alliances were somewhat large, and he'd wanted a small two-person alliance with someone that he really trusted. He'd actually only even considered one girl for an alliance; Arista Ryans from District Eight, and he hadn't actually asked her about it. He could tell that she didn't want an alliance; she avoided everyone in Training and spoke to no one. So he was going it alone.

_Well, so what? _He thought to himself. _I'm James Austin Mocking! If there's anyone who could win the Hunger Games with no alliance, it would be me._

He was totally ready for the interview, too. He was going to be typical James Austin Mocking; dashing and flattering, but humble and down to earth as well. Hopefully, some of the Capitol girls would think he was cute, and then he'd get quite a few more sponsors. He didn't know what he'd need in the arena, exactly, but he knew that sponsors could help him win, and James desperately wanted to win.

It wasn't like he had a family to return to. His mother had died giving birth to him, and his father had been murdered by Peacekeepers when trying to protect James. He'd been questioning the Capitol, and a Peacekeeper began to beat him with a nightstick for it, despite the fact that James had only been seven at the time. His father had come to his rescue and began to beat the Peacekeeper, but soon enough another one showed up and shot James' father in the chest. They'd let him go home to his big brother Kyle after that, but even Kyle didn't last long. When James was eleven, Kyle was reaped for the Hunger Games. He'd died brutally; he was pinned to a tree with a spear by the girl from District One and left to hang there while the Careers watched his life bleed away. Kyle's death had spurred James to start preparing for the Hunger Games himself, in case he ever got picked. In truth, he'd been planning to volunteer at age eighteen, but he got lucky this year, and got reaped at age sixteen instead. Well, he was ready, despite the fact that he was two years younger than he'd planned to be, and he was going to take down the competition.

He looked up as Caesar Flickerman mounted the stage. The young man's hair was buttercup yellow this year, with a blue suit and blinking yellow lights to match. "Hello, Panem!" He called, and the audience cheered. Caesar Flickerman was a very popular interviewer, and he was notorious for trying to make the tributes look better than they actually were. James didn't really need Caesar's help, in his opinion, but it was mildly comforting to know that if he got in a rough spot during the interview, Caesar would try and get him out of it.

"Tomorrow, my friends, the Hunger Games truly begins!" Caesar exclaimed, earning a roar from the audience. He smiled. "Tonight, however, is the night we learn about our tributes! Now let's get the ball rolling with… Soleil Nike Callwyn from District One!"

The audience screamed as Soleil stood and walked onstage, and James could unfortunately see why. She was quite pretty; especially with the dress she was wearing, a black strapless feature that hugged her chest and had a long flowing skirt. She was wearing a shiny black leather jacket open over it, and had tall black heels that looked like nightmares to walk in. Her long dark hair was loose and tumbled down her back, and she had a stunning smile that James could tell would win over a lot of people in the Capitol. _Well, that's good for her, _he thought seriously. _She's very pretty. Maybe I should have been in an alliance with her after all… No! I can't start fawning over her, just because she's a pretty girl. I've got to keep my wits about me, or I'm going to lose the Games. _

James promptly tuned into what Soleil and Caesar were saying, instead of focusing on the girl's attractive features. Soleil seemed to be going for a charismatic approach, which was odd for a girl from District One, but if that's what she wanted to do it was fine by James. She also seemed to be subtly playing with Caesar's questions; moving them in places that she preferred and answering them in ways that made her look good. _She's smart, _James thought appreciatively. _I'm going to have to be careful of her in the arena._

Soleil finished her interview and left the stage, and James went on autopilot, only listening to the tributes whose interviews he thought would give him an edge over them. The girl from District Two was extremely sarcastic and arrogant, and seemed dangerous. _Another one I'll have to watch out for. _The girl from District Three was clearly an idiot; she laughed a lot and pointed at everything. "Ooh, look at all those people! Oh wow, you have a pretty suit! Hee hee, the Games are tomorrow! Scary!" Clearly, the girl was an idiot who James wouldn't have to worry about unduly. He did feel bad for her, of course, and didn't relish having to kill her if he wandered across her in the arena, but it was possible that he was going to have to.

The girl and boy from District Four both acted sweet; the girl giggling and complimenting the Capitol a lot and the boy being charismatic and funny. The girl from District Five, Amethyst Azeleck, acted mysterious and flirty, and was pretty funny as well. He found himself liking her attitude, but he knew that she was already in an alliance with the boy and girl from Seven, Saber Anderson and Lura Falon, and didn't want to add himself into such a big group. The boy from Five was another nice boy and was pretty forgettable. The girl from Six was just scary. She laughed hysterically quite a bit and when asked what her angle was, she smiled and said, "I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill all of them. Just you wait. You'll see; you'll see." She didn't say much more after that, just cocked her head at various weird angles and sang a few verses of a thoroughly disturbing song about killing little birds, playing in their blood, and eating their internal organs. James didn't consider her for an alliance for a second.

The boy from Six, Seren Alyona, was calm and quiet but once or twice burst out about how much he hated the Hunger Games. Caesar and the audience all seemed shocked at these outbursts, but Seren looked proud that he'd said them at all. Seren reminded James a lot of himself at thirteen, although a lot less classy and dashing, of course.

He pretty much stopped listening after that, although he did break out of his thoughts once to listen to Arista's interview. She played a mysterious but dangerous angle that James had to appreciate. It seemed to really suit her. And then he stopped listening again, bored with the whole proceedings and anxious just to get started on his own interview.

He perked up when he heard Caesar saying something about District Eleven, but slumped back when he realized that Caesar was talking about Rosie Fullmoon. He sighed and shrugged, leaning forward. He might as well listen to his district partner's interview; who knows, he might learn something…

* * *

><p>Rosie Fullmoon walked up the stage slowly and took a seat across from Caesar Flickerman. Her dark black hair had been combed, brushed and sprayed into a soft thick carpet that fell to her shoulder blades, instead of its usual frizzy self. She sat nervously at the edge of the chair and smoothed out her dress absentmindedly. It was a soft grey color that shimmered in the light, making it look as though she were wearing a moonbeam. She'd been lucky enough to have an expert stylist who made her look as good as she could possibly look, and she was thankful for it. Her shoes were metallic grey ballet flats, thankfully, as heels would have been too much for her. The dress came to her knees when she was sitting, and she crossed her legs primly and smoothed out the skirt, waiting for Caesar Flickerman to begin her interview.<p>

"Hello, Rosie!" Caesar said, and she nodded at him.

"Hi, Caesar," she replied.

Caesar got right down to business, settling in his chair and leaning forward, as though they were two friends gossiping in private, not in front of the whole country. Rosie sighed, thinking of her best friend, Addi, who she'd volunteered for. Addi had just loved to gossip.

"So, Rosie," Caesar said. "I suppose that the first thing we're all wondering is about the girl you volunteered for. Why don't you tell us a bit about her?"

"Her name's Addi and she's my best friend," Rosie exclaimed. "I volunteered for her because I knew that I could win the Games, and I didn't think she could." There were murmurs from the audience.

"Well, that's certainly brave of you!" Caesar exclaimed. Rosie shrugged. "Now, I'm sure everybody here would like to know your strategy. What are you planning to do once you make it to the arena?"

"My alliance and I have worked out a strategy, but if I tell you, it'll ruin the surprise."

"Oh, come on!" Caesar begged, putting his hands together and getting on his knees. The audience laughed, and so did Rosie. "Please?"

"I'm afraid not," she said, patting Caesar on the head. He sighed and pouted, returning to his seat. His good nature restored, and he smiled at the audience.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" The audience roared its approval, and he turned back to Rosie. "Now, Rosie. You got a six in training. How do you feel about that score?"

"I feel as if I should have gotten better. A six doesn't represent me at all, and everybody's going to see that once the Games begin."

"It's nice to hear that you have so much confidence in yourself!" Cheers and laughter erupted from the audience. Rosie grinned.

"Yeah, well, all I can say is that once you guys see me in the arena you'll know why!"

"And there's some more of that confidence!" The audience and Caesar laughed, and Rosie felt that they were laughing with her, not at her. That was a good sign, she supposed. She smiled and pumped her fist.

"These Games need someone with a little determination!" She exclaimed. "And I've got enough to last the whole Games."

"It seems as if you do," Caesar said, just as the buzzer went off. He looked at it and got to his feet, shaking Rosie's hand. "Rosie Fullmoon, everyone!" The audience applauded and cheered, and Rosie felt her heart lighten the slightest bit before plunging back down into despair. The audience might like her now, but it wasn't the audience she'd be fighting in the arena; it was the other tributes. Somehow, she doubted that her performance had endeared her to any of her soon- to-be enemies, except Rylla, maybe.

Rosie walked off the stage and sat in her seat, watching as James Mocking took the stage. He immediately endeared himself to the Capitol people with his wit, charm and good looks. _He was ten times better than me, _Rosie thought unhappily. _I hope Rylla and Fang aren't too disappointed in me._

The last two tributes up were the girl from District Twelve and Fang. The girl from Twelve seemed pretty mad during her interview, but she was able to slip in some flirting which Rosie could tell the audience appreciated a lot. Fang was his usual self; he answered Caesar's questions in as few words as possible. Rosie could tell that the audience liked him, though; he practically exuded power and looked extremely dangerous. He'd probably get sponsors, which meant Rosie would get sponsors too, being in an alliance with him. For the umpteenth time, she thanked Rylla mentally for inviting her into the alliance.

The night ended with Caesar thanking everyone from showing up, and dismissing the crowd. Rosie knew that sleep tonight was going to be impossible; after all, the Hunger Games were tomorrow. She was just going to have to hope for the best. And since Rosie was a pessimist, hoping for the best was not going to work for her at all.

_Ready or not, here I come, _she thought, and hoped that she was ready.


	7. Before

**Hey guys! Today I made a double update, so you get both this final chapter before the Games and then the Bloodbath! Hooray!**

**The Fave Tribute Contest is officially closed, and here are the winners!**

**In first place, with a whopping SIX votes, is Seren Alyona!**

**In second place and with four votes, Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow!**

**And in third place, with three votes, is Fang!**

**Thanks so much to everyone who voted! Now onward, to the final chapter before the Games...**

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><p>Mela Servitore paced in the darkness of her room anxiously; nervous beyond belief but not tired enough to shut her eyes. <em>It would be a good idea if I got some rest, <em>she reminded herself, but somehow couldn't bring herself to consider it. _How am I supposed to sleep when tomorrow's my death date? _She thought to herself anxiously. _Well; not necessarily tomorrow; but the point here is that I'm going to die in these Games. The chance that I'll live is so slim that I don't even want to think about it. _

She sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed, pinching the bridge of her nose. It was a habit she had carried over from her worries in District Three, but worrying about her and her mother's strained relationship paled in comparison to worrying about whether or not she was going to die in the next twenty-four hours. _I am going to be so happy if I make it to this time tomorrow, _she thought to herself. _That would be a miracle._

She had a strategy all worked out, of course. She wasn't going to head into the Bloodbath; not for a second. She doubted that anyone would target her specifically; she'd played her part as an idiot to perfection. She could tell that Caesar Flickerman had thought her a complete and utter fool, and she'd managed to interact enough in Training to spread the word that she was not to be taken seriously. Added to the fact that she'd only gotten a three in training; a record low, no one was going to think twice about Mela Servitore. Everyone would be… well, quite surprised when they discovered that Mela was no fool; in fact she was probably smarter than many of her opponents.

Anyway; she really just wasn't up for the Bloodbath. She was much better at long-range combat than fighting hand-to-hand. She had a bad feeling that if she ventured into the Bloodbath, she'd be leaving the arena in a box. And a box was not something Mela had any desire to be trapped in. She didn't know how she was going to get any weapons if she didn't check out the Cornucopia sooner or later, but she didn't need much. A sharp piece of rock and a good opening were all she needed. Mela had a talent for throwing things; strange as it sounded, and she knew that if she managed to get her hands on a knife, for example, she would be a force to be reckoned with.

For a moment she considered when it would be wise to reveal the fact that she was dangerous. It would be great if she could make it far enough in the Games that it would be obvious that she was one of the killers, but statistically it didn't seem likely. Mela was pretty weak in hand-to-hand combat, and she was clumsy. It was unfortunate; but if someone was chasing her, there was a pretty big chance that she would fall on her face, and then they would have ample time to finish her. Mela did not want to be finished any more than she wanted to leave the arena in a box.

She brushed a hand through her now short brown hair. It came to her chin now, curving slightly to meet the sharp point of said chin. She missed her beautiful, flowing brown locks, but her stylist had recommended they come off, and Mela had to agree. It wouldn't be wise to have such long hair in the Games. Someone could grab it in a chase if she hadn't already tripped, and then she'd die. She did miss the way she had used to look, but if she won the Games for having short hair she'd be eternally grateful. Hell, she'd shave off all of her hair and go bald! _That's it, _she thought to herself, closing her warm brown eyes. _If I win the Hunger Games, I promise to shave off all of my hair. Now I'm going to have to win!_

She got to her feet again and began to pace, arms clasped behind her back. _Hell, I'm nervous, _she thought to herself. She could feel her heart pumping at a clipped rate in her throat, carrying life-giving blood to her limbs and organs. Perhaps that blood of hers would be staining the ground of an arena in the next twenty-four hours; who could tell?

That last thought was too much for Mela, and she ground to a halt in the center of the room. One dry sob wracked her body, and she fell to her knees in the plush carpet, fingers digging into her arms. _I'm only sixteen; I had a whole life ahead of me! But now; now… _Slowly, her eyes opened and she got up, her hands clenched in fists. _No; I can't think like that. If I think like a pessimist I'll die. I have to think positive. It's the only way to keep me motivated._

"I need some fresh air," she said, heading for the doors. She knew that the Training Center had a roof; she'd been up there once or twice when nerves had gotten hold of her. She tapped her foot impatiently as the elevator climbed to the top, and as soon as the doors opened she stepped out into the cool night with a relieved sigh, arms spread wide and fingers splayed. She was here; and now she was going to enjoy the last natural night she'd ever see, most likely. _I can't help it, _she thought. _I just have to think logically; and the logical outcome here is that I'm going to die. Probably not tomorrow, but eventually._

The wind was soft that night; just a gentle breeze that blew Mela's short hair out of her eyes. She sighed, enjoying the cool tickle on her cheek. It was so calm up here; so safe. She wished that she could stay forever, but she knew eventually it would be time to go. Her stylist would escort her to this roof again, only this time it would be so that she could board a hovercraft and make the journey to the arena. The dangerous, deadly arena. The place where she was, on all likelihood, going to meet her demise.

Mela, wandering over to a flowerbox filled with azaleas, wondered what it would be idly. She stroked one of the azalea's petals as she considered being tortured to death by Careers. Perhaps she'd by torn to shreds by mutts, or squashed by a landslide. Maybe she'd lose her life to a tribute she trusted, or maybe she'd lose her life to a Gamemaker. She hoped that it wouldn't be too bad, but these were the Hunger Games. The whole point was pretty much to make things as bad as they could possibly be.

"I suppose that there _is _a sort of twisted logic in that," Mela said, tickling the azalea's green stalk. She had a fondness for flowers; her parents had owned a fairly well-off flower shop in District Three, and she knew the names of a ton of flowers now. "Besides," she added, leaning over the flowers until they brushed her cheek. "I _am _one of the smartest people in the arena. Nobody's going to think I'm anybody until I… What's that?" She whipped around to see a boy standing behind her, staring at her guiltily. She flushed. "Were you _spying _on me?"

The boy shook his head immediately. "No, no; well, I guess I was but I honestly wasn't trying to!"

"Go on," Mela said coolly, tapping one foot. The boy looked at the foot and swallowed hard.

"I just came up here to calm myself down, and I heard you talking. So, I wanted to hear what you were saying." He smiled tentatively. "I'm Matt; Matt Grove."

"Mela Servitore," Mela said, and he cocked his head.

"Wait, _you're _Mela Servitore?"

"That's what I just said, is it not?"

"But… I mean, I heard that you… Well, clearly the people saying that were wrong; you're not… You're obviously really smart…!" Mela went cold. _No, no, NO! _This boy had stumbled up here and ruined the image she'd spent so long perfecting. Now he'd go running back to his allies and warn them about how Mela Servitore was only pretending to be an idiot, and then people would try to kill her specifically. To her horror, tears welled up in her eyes, and she blinked furiously, looking up at the stars. Unfortunately, Matt noticed her distress.

"Hey, what's the matter?" He asked, stepping forward a few paces. Mela sighed. _I might as well just tell the truth; he knows I'm not an idiot now._

"People told you that I was an idiot, right?" She asked. Matt turned bright red.

"Well; I… I don't really… Why do you ask…?" He stammered. She rolled her eyes.

"Did they?"

"Yes…"

"Right," she sighed, looking at the ground. "You see, that was all an act." The realization dawned immediately in Matt's eyes, and he nodded.

"Alright, then," he said, business-like. "Does anybody else know about this?" Mela shook her head, and he smiled warmly at her. "Don't worry," he said, coming and standing next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder, and she felt a faint blush scorch across her cheeks. "I won't give away your secret."

"You- you won't?" Mela gasped, relief flooding through her. She put a hand to her heart and breathed heavily. "Really? But what about your allies?"

"I don't have any allies, actually," Matt admitted. "I was going to go into the arena alone." He blinked. "That is, unless you want to be allies with me."

Mela stared at him. "Are you serious?" She asked. He looked hurt, and started to open his mouth, but she beat him to it. "That would be amazing!" She exclaimed happily. Matt smiled at her.

"Alright, then," he said, offering her his hand. She took it gently, and in unison they shook. Mela released him with a sigh and slid down the wall she was leaning against, putting her knees to her chest.

"Do you want to talk strategy?" She asked. "I'm still not tired…"

Matt sat down next to her and nodded. "What were you planning to do during the Bloodbath?" He asked, the breeze blowing his brown hair faintly. "I thought that I would avoid the Bloodbath," he admitted. "I don't think I'm ready for it."

"That's what I was going to do!" Mela exclaimed. She frowned. "Of course, meeting up will be hard if we can't go through the Bloodbath to meet each other."

"Here's an idea," Matt suggested. "We've got sixty seconds before we have to leave our plate at the beginning of the Games, right? So, we'll find each other with our eyes and then motion in what direction we want to go. Simple, right?"

"Alright," Mela said. "But who decides?"

"Oh, you can do it," Matt said. "Unless you'd rather…"

"It's fine," Mela said. "I'll do it. So, we just run in that direction and meet up with each other?"

"Yeah," Matt said. "We can work on supplies and stuff later; the most important thing is avoiding the Bloodbath."

"Then it's a plan." Tentatively, they both smiled at each other. Mela looked into Matt's eyes. "Are you afraid?" She asked.

He laughed. "Terrified," he admitted, moving closer to her. "Why else would I be out here? What about you?"

"Petrified," Mela replied. She shivered as there was a gust of wind a lot greater than the little breezes of before; of course she hadn't thought to bring a jacket.

"Cold?" Matt asked.

"A little," Mela admitted.

Matt opened his arms. "Do you want to, you know…?" Mela didn't need a second invitation. She rested her head on his chest and sighed as his warmth leaked into her body. Normally she'd be embarrassed about being this close to a boy, but nothing was normal on the night before the Hunger Games began.

"I think I'm going to play out the simpleminded thing for as long as I can, okay?" She informed Matt. "So maybe when other people are around you can pretend that I'm an idiot."

"Sure," Matt said. For a while, the conversation winked out of existence as they stared at the stars. _They're so beautiful, _Mela thought, a tiny smile on her face. She sighed; for the first time since the reapings she was perfectly content. She wasn't worried in the slightest; she was comfortable against Matt's chest, and safe…

"You're so warm," she mumbled, snuggling closer to him. She felt him moving a lock of hair out of her face.

"Bedtime, I think," he told her. "I'm going to take you back to your room now."

"Alright," Mela murmured sleepily, and sighed as he scooped her up. Her last thought before she really fell asleep was, _I think I really like him…_

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><p>Garnet Painite was not having a good sleep.<p>

She'd tossed and turned most of the night, and now, once she'd finally fallen asleep, she'd gotten stuck inside this stupid nightmare. _Come on! _She called, raising her fists. _Come fight me! I'll take all of you one by one! _The white expanse of nothingness before her did nothing but ripple hazily, ignoring her completely. And Garnet hated being ignored.

_COME ON! _She screeched, throwing herself to the ground and tearing at it for all she was worth. Nothing happened to the strange whiteness, but soon her fingernails were broken and bleeding, blood running in rivulets down her wrists. She gave a sob and slumped onto the ground. _Come on, somebody. Anybody; please come find me. Please? _There was nothing.

Garnet gave a howl of pure fury and staggered to her feet. Now she was broken and bruised all over, blood streaming from her nose. Her green eyes were puffy, and her long black hair was snarled and torn. She was just as beautiful as she was in real life in this dream; she was considered the most beautiful girl in her district, after all. But the maddening perfect whiteness didn't seem to give a damn how pretty she was.

_SCREW YOU! _She ranted, stomping her foot. She blinked as the stomp traveled outwards in a strange ripple, the fabric of the white expanse spreading out, becoming bigger. As she watched the ripples arced higher and higher, until they slammed into a roof that hadn't been there before and-!

Nothing.

And then she was in an arena; sweat moist on her brow. She was standing on a quiet carpet of leaves, surrounded by a bunch of very boring trees. She found herself peeling a sliver of bark off one of the boring trees and tasting it, although in real life she sucked at edible plants and would never do something so stupid. _It's probably oak, _she said, turning to a hideous monstrosity seated behind her. It was red and had dripping, melting skin, with a mouth hole covered in strands of its gloppy flesh. The real Garnet had to stifle a scream at the humanoid thing, but the dream Garnet just looked at it confidently. _What do you think? _The creature moaned once, and dream-Garnet nodded. _You're right, _she exclaimed, sticking the soggy piece of bark back on the tree. _Pine._

She looked up as a band of tributes came howling through the trees, weapons at the ready. She recognized them; Rylla Stevens, Fang and Rosie Fullmoon were pounding towards her. Each of them held a bloodstained weapon in their hand, and each of them was screaming for her blood. She found herself readying her spear and pulling it out in front of her. The three tributes stopped when they made it to her.

_You've been worrying us for too long, Painite! _Rylla said, stroking the edge of her trident.

_We hunted you down_, Fang said, a sadistic grin on his face. _And now we're going to end you._

_Prepare to go down, bitch!_ Rosie laughed. Real-Garnet had to reflect on that for a moment, because Real-Rosie didn't seem like she'd ever be so rude.

She started to aim her spear, but before she could her monstrous companion jumped and lunged to Rylla. One minute her head was attached to her shoulders, and the next it was inside the creature's strange maw. She kicked, screamed and wriggled but it quickly absorbed her. Rosie and Fang looked at each and other and ran like hell.

_Nice talking with ya! _Dream-Garnet called derisively, turning to her companion. _Good work. _It didn't answer. _Hello? I said good work! _Slowly, the creature turned and Garnet could see Rylla's face peering out of its mouth. It lunged at her suddenly and knocked her to the ground, sitting on her chest and pinning her to the ground.

_Game over, _both Rylla and the creature said, and she woke up.

Garnet growled and extricated herself from the messed-up covers; she must have been kicking like crazy last night. She got to her feet and went immediately to her closet, going through the many outfits they'd left for her. Eventually she decided on a simple white blouse and black leggings, as well as soft beige boots. She wouldn't need this outfit for long; just until they made it to the Launch Room. Then someone would bring a new outfit for her, the outfit that everyone would be wearing into the Games, and then, of course, the Games would actually _start_.

Garnet wouldn't say that she was extremely nervous, but nerves were definitely playing a factor in her stress level right now. _It would be helpful if I had any allies, but that bitch Rylla didn't want me, and by the time I started looking again all the good alliances were filled up. Well, whatever. I can do it alone. It's not like _I _need anyone; besides, when I win the Games, it'll look even better that I was alone._

She peered out her window and sighed; the sky was a grey color that alerted her to the fact that it was still quite early outside. _Well, I'm not going back to sleep, _she thought. _Besides, they might be coming for me soon anyway. _She sat down on the edge of her bed and crossed her legs, fingers drumming a tattoo on her thigh.

She couldn't help it; she was going to go over her strategy one last time. It actually wasn't much of a strategy. All she was going to do was run into the Bloodbath and kill whoever got too close. It was pretty simple and something most people would be surprised at, seeing as Garnet was fairly short, incredibly beautiful, and from the livestock district. She didn't know how long she'd be staying at the Bloodbath, but she planned for it to be quite a while, at least until everybody cleared out. Then she'd pick up some good supplies and find a place to spend the night. She didn't know about the Games as a whole, but she knew that she was going to survive the Bloodbath. Only losers didn't survive the Bloodbath, and Garnet was no loser.

There was a knock on her door, and Garnet got up resignedly. She opened it to find Root, her stylist, waiting. Root was pretty much constantly silent, which was fine with Garnet. With his chocolate-brown eyes and messy hairstyle, she doubted that he had anything even remotely interesting to say.

"Right, let's go," she commanded, and he nodded. Even though he'd been the one coming to collect her, ordering him to leave made Garnet feel in control. Seeing as her life had been spiraling out of control lately, this small gesture filled Garnet with confidence. She felt more ready for the Games than she had only a few short minutes ago.

She and Root took the elevator up to the roof, where Garnet looked up to see a hovercraft waiting for her with a ladder extended. She walked up to the ladder and placed her hands on one of the rungs and froze as an electric current ravaged her body. _What? Is this supposed to happen? _The ladder began to rise to the belly of the hovercraft, where Garnet spotted a young man with a needle. _Oh right, he's going to inject me with a tracking device. Mom told me about that ages ago. _Garnet's mother had been a tribute a while back; that's why she'd shoved down the girl who had tried to volunteer for her. She was going to bring glory to the Painite family name again.

The Capitol man explained the necessity of the tracker. _Blah, blah, blah, _Garnet thought, bored. _Just get on with it already. _

Eventually the man did place the tracker under the skin of her left forearm. It hurt, but Garnet relished the pain. _If I can't take this, I'm nothing. I bet some kids are actually hurt by this. Hah!_

The ladder released her and Garnet strode to a table in the middle of a spacious room filled with windows. She sat down gingerly, not really caring whether Root would turn up. She heard him entering the hovercraft but wasn't surprised when he didn't come to sit with her. _I never liked him anyway._

The hovercraft took off fluidly, floating them in the direction of the arena. Garnet mostly sat at her little table and thought, although she did get up and pace a couple of times. The hovercraft ride was long and very boring; no one had thought to offer Garnet anything to keep herself occupied, and she didn't really feel like snooping around too much. At one point someone provided her with a hearty breakfast, which she thankfully devoured, but other than that she did absolutely nothing.

She was staring out one of the windows when it blacked out, leaving her looking at nothing. _We must be getting close, _she thought. _That took forever. _A thought occurred to her, and she giggled. _What if the arena this year is so boring we're all bored to death! Hahaha! _It wasn't really all that funny, but she needed something to think about that wasn't about death. She'd thought quite enough about death in the past couple of days.

Root appeared eventually, and they mounted the ladder together. This time, instead of daylight, they passed through a dark tube and came out in the Launch Room. _My new home for the next hour or so, _Garnet thought. _Hooray._

She went to the showers first. She programmed a massage jet into the device and sighed in pleasure as the water drummed against her spine. She was going to take every measure right now to get herself as ready for the Games as she possibly could be, and having the tension released from her back seemed like a good idea.

Eventually she exited the shower, using the box on the wall to comb out her tangled hair. She brushed her teeth too, just so her breath wouldn't smell in the arena (who wanted bad breath?) and left the little bathroom, coming back to where Root was sitting in the center of the Launch Room. She ignored him and went to the food panel, ordering the largest breakfast she could think of: eggs, toast, bacon and a buttered bagel. She'd already had a remarkably large breakfast, but having as much food as she could now could save her from starvation later in the arena. She added two glasses of water and a glass of orange juice to the feast and took it all to the little table. Root watched her eat with no expression on his face. He didn't say a word, but Garnet knew she was doing the right thing. This is what her mother had done in her Games, and if her mother had won doing this, well, so would Garnet.

She finished her breakfast and laid back just as the clothes arrived. Garnet was in no mood to try on clothing, but she got up and looked over her arena outfit. It was fairly simple; a pair of long flexible brown pants and a white form fitting tee-shirt, as well as sturdy undergarments and a black jacket with fur on the inside. The boots looked tough and good for running, not that Garnet would be running much today. No; she'd be fighting instead, and she'd be winning.

"Anything about these I should know?" She asked Root. He shrugged.

"The jacket is meant for severe cold, but the rest of the outfit isn't. Some parts of the arena are going to be brutally cold; others should be temperate. If you wear that jacket in a temperate spot, you'll overheat."

"Okay," Garnet said. She stepped into the bathroom and changed into her arena outfit, tying the jacket around her waist. She doubted that the Gamemakers would throw them in the freezing spot right away, and if they did, the Bloodbath would keep her warm enough. If she put on the jacket and it was warm out there, she wouldn't have time to take it off during the Bloodbath, and then it was very possible she'd die.

She stepped outside and Root looked her over before nodding her approval. She took a seat and waited, downing another roll and two more glasses of water. Hydration was key.

When the pleasant female voice announcing launch came on over the loudspeakers, both Garnet and Root jumped. Garnet quietly walked over to the circular launch plate and waited. Soon, a cylinder slid down from the ceiling, separating her from Root completely. He nodded at her, and she nodded back as the plate began to rise.

It rose in the darkness for about fifteen seconds, and suddenly came out into open air. Garnet couldn't help but gasp at the sight of the arena. _Okay, now the outfit makes sense, _she thought to herself. _Good luck, other tributes, because Garnet Painite is ready to go. _

"Ladies and gentleman, may the 54th Hunger Games… begin!"


	8. Bloodbath

**This is it, guys. _The Bloodbath_. Just to let you know, I did the double update thing because I'll be going away soon, and won't be able to update for the next few days. Soo sorry! Anyway, here you have it; I hope you enjoy! At the bottom, I'll do a Tribute Watch thing, so you know where your tribute is!**

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><p>Lura stared at the arena around her and shuddered.<p>

The tributes were arranged in a circle around the Cornucopia, which was standing in a clearing. On all sides of the tributes was a thick forest, and there was a mountain not too far away from where they stood. She peered to her left and deduced that the forest dipped into a valley after a while; Lord knew what could possibly be at the bottom.

The Cornucopia itself was crammed full of supplies. Lura winced just imagining what she was going to have to do once she got in there, but she had promised her alliance that she would be the one to go into the Bloodbath and get supplies. Her two allies, Saber Anderson and Ameth Azeleck, were definitely not strong enough to hold their own in the Bloodbath, but they were going to need supplies and Lura volunteered.

"Twenty-three, twenty-two, twenty-one…"

Lura peered anxiously around the circle of tributes until she found them. They'd already decided that Saber and Ameth would run to the left, wherever that would lead. _Alright, they'll be going into the valley, _Lura thought. _I'll find them as soon as I can._

"Three, two…"

The gong sounded and Lura hurtled off her metal plate, pounding towards the Cornucopia. She could already see that she wasn't going to make it first; the girl from District Eight, Arista Ryans, was already there, scrabbling around in the Cornucopia for weapons and supplies. Lura sighed and kept on running, clenching her fist. She nearly screamed as the boy from District Two snuck behind Arista and the girl whirled, holding an axe. _I need an axe! _As Lura watched, Arista slashed the axe, and the boy's head rolled off. His body staggered backwards for a pace and then fell hard on the grass.

_Don't be sick; do not be sick! _Lura commanded herself, ignoring the fountain of blood coming from the boy. She was nearly there; just a few more meters! She heard screaming, and assumed that somebody was meeting their demise on the other side of the Cornucopia. Arista was now battling it out with the girl from District Twelve; both of them were scrabbling at each other, trying to land a glancing blow. Now Arista had a knife, and the girl from District Twelve was swinging a sword around with surprising grace. Arista barely managed to block a blow with her axe blade, and she growled at the smaller girl.

Lura landed on her knees in a pile of supplies and grabbed whatever was in her vicinity; she managed to snag a bright yellow backpack and a small satchel of what could be anything. She snatched up a small knife too and blinked as she heard something whistle. She screamed as she realized that the boy from Ten had shot an arrow at her, and missed. She turned and saw him standing behind her, grinning his head off. "No," she whispered, and he raised the bow just in time for Soleil Nike Callwyn to grab his arm.

"Excuse us, but I need those arrows," Landon said, plucking them from the boy's grasp. He struggled and snarled, and unexpectedly broke out of Soleil's grip and jumped at Landon with a knife no one had noticed him holding. Before he could get too close, however, there was a maniacal laugh, and suddenly the girl from Six had him by the neck. She was holding a knife in her hand, and she plunged it deep into his heart, twisting it and giggling as blood splattered down her arms. This was just too much for Lura, and she jumped up. No one was watching her; all eyes were on the crazy girl from Six.

Lura ran around the Cornucopia and stopped dead as she watched the boy from Three battling the girl from Ten and the girl from Two. None of them seemed to be an alliance; all three of them were trying to kill each other. As Lura watched, the girl from Ten managed to punch the boy from Three in the face, and the girl from Two darted up to the both of them and stabbed her knife directly in the boy's face. He gave a gurgling scream before falling to his knees, and the two girls immediately turned on each other.

Lura panted, and ran around the Cornucopia again. She noticed that Arista and the girl from Twelve had stopped fighting; in fact that girl from Twelve was running into the woods even as Lura watched. She blinked as she saw Arista drop the axe for a moment, looking for something in the piles of goodies around the Cornucopia. _Hello, my new axe, _Lura thought, and crept toward it.

She grinned as her hand snaked out towards the handle, and suddenly screamed as the boy from Eight fell on top of her, killed by what looked like a knife in his throat. Arista immediately whipped around and spotted Lura trapped underneath the boy from Eight. She snatched up her axe and for a moment Lura spotted a flash of pity in her eyes.

"Sorry," Arista said, raising the axe, and as it crashed down to behead Lura Falon, she realized sadly that she was very, very dead…

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><p>Dillon watched his knife enter the boy from District Eight's throat, and felt a pang of shame. <em>That boy probably had a family who really loved him, <em>he thought unhappily. _And now he's dead, and it's all my fault._

He turned back to look at Landon, Soleil and Lysemet. He hadn't had a lot of time to explain things, seeing as it was the Bloodbath, but he'd managed to let Landon and Soleil know that from now on, Lysemet was with them. He'd also managed to tell them about the note she'd slipped him in Training, with only one word, _allies_, printed on it, and how he'd accepted her into the alliance. He could tell that Landon and Soleil were mad and he was probably going to get a talking-to later, but for now Lysemet was safe.

All four of them had a ton of supplies. Landon had managed to steal a bow and arrows from the boy from District Ten, and Dillon had three throwing knives; well, two, now that he'd gotten one into the boy from District Eight. Lysemet had a knife as well, and a huge brown backpack that looked like a pain to carry. Soleil only had a tiny brown satchel, but she sprinted over to the Cornucopia. Right now, the only person on their side was the girl from District Eight. She'd just beheaded the girl from District Seven, and as Dillon watched she pulled a backpack off the girl's back and bolted. He considered throwing a knife at her, but she was moving like lightening and he doubted he'd hit.

He followed Soleil, and Landon and Lysemet followed him. "Take what you can!" Soleil ordered; she'd become the leader of the group pretty quickly. She was going to be a good leader, Dillon decided. He just hoped she didn't kick him out because of the whole Lysemet thing.

He bent down and snatched up a loaf of bread. "I need some sort of container!" He called, and Landon tossed him a thick blue bag. It had a water bottle and some iodine in it, as well as an apple and a couple of crackers. Dillon tossed his loaf of bread inside the bag and swung it onto his shoulders. He looked up to see Lysemet nosing through the supplies, seemingly hunting for something specific. Well, he was fine with what he had, although maybe he could use a couple more knives. He dropped the ones he had in his bag and started forward, nearly tripping on the girl from Seven's head. He swallowed hard and kicked the bloody thing away, where it gently bumped against her body. Dillon walked over to said body and discovered that the girl was clutching a knife and a small brown satchel. He picked up the satchel and opened it to find two empty syringes. _I could use these, _he thought, putting the girl's knife and the satchel into his bag.

Lysemet suddenly gave a cry of joy, and everyone turned around to look. Cradled lovingly in her hands was the hilt of a bullwhip. She cracked it and giggled as everyone jumped. Dillon sighed; Lysemet was incredibly dangerous but also incredibly scary.

He heard Soleil gasp, and she darted right up to the massive pile inside the Cornucopia, going for the hilt of a sword. "This is a double sword!" She said to Landon. "Help me find the twin!" She looked at Lysemet and Dillon. "Dillon, find us more food! Lysemet… help Dillon!"

Lysemet looked confused. "But what about the killing?" She asked.

Soleil shook her head. "We'll do that later. Now go!" Lysemet shrugged and wandered over to Dillon.

"What are we doing again?" She asked.

"Finding food," he told her. "I'll help you."

"Okay," she said obligingly. She knelt down beside the girl from District Seven's head and lifted it into the air. "Found it!"

Dillon gagged. "Lysemet! That's disgusting!"

She giggled as she dropped the head. "You have no sense of humor," she said happily. "Even crazy people can be funny."

"…Okay," Dillon said.

Everyone jumped as the heard a shriek from the other side of the Cornucopia. Apparently, somebody was still battling it out back there. "Do you want to go look?" Landon asked Soleil. The girl had a sword in each hand now, and was shaking her head.

"We've done enough for today," she said. "I don't want to get involved in someone else's fight. Let's get out of here." Dillon nodded his assent, and Lysemet sighed happily, staring dreamily at the girl from Seven's severed head.

"The girl from Seven; Lura's dead,

Arista Ryans cut off her head;

The boy from Two; beheaded too,

The boy from Three, murdered by two;

The boy from Eight was Dillon's prey;

And the boy from Ten was mine today," she sang.

Dillon blinked. "Did you make that up?" He asked. "That was pretty good." Lysemet shrugged modestly, patting his shoulder.

"We can't all be talents," she said sweetly, and he found himself laughing, although he didn't know why.

"Alright, you two," Soleil, giving them both an annoyed stare. "Where do you suggest we go?"

"The mountain," Lysemet said.

"I agree," Dillon said. "There might be something up there that we could use."

"Alright, then," Soleil said. "Landon wanted to run parallel to the mountain, but the rest of us want to go up. Let's get out of here; now!" She bolted in the direction of the mountain, and Dillon and Lysemet shot after her, possibly running to certain death, although they wouldn't know it until it swallowed them alive.

* * *

><p>Fang grinned. He didn't grin much, but he felt that today was worthy of a grin. They'd all made it out of the Bloodbath fine, with only a few minor injuries. Rylla had been spiked in the shoulder by the boy from District Nine, who Fang had subsequently killed. He felt slightly bad about breaking the boy's neck, but it had been necessary to save Rylla. The boy had had a really good weapon anyway; a glove with razor spikes on the end of every finger. It had proved somewhat troublesome to Rylla in the boy's incompetent hands, but when Fang used it (and he was going to; he had big plans for that glove) it would be deadly.<p>

He, Rosie and Rylla were now camped as far away from the Bloodbath as they could get. They unfortunately hadn't gotten many good supplies other than the glove; Rosie had managed to snatch up a small bag with an apple in it and a knife, which none of them were proficient in using, and Rylla had gotten a large sheet of plastic and a bag containing a needle and thread, which could be useful in stitching up wounds. None of them had any medical training either, but Rylla said she was good at weaving and could probably figure out what to do. He, Fang, had gotten a couple of fairly good items; a bag containing a banana, a little bottle of iodine, and a tiny bottle at the very bottom of the bag with a clear substance that Rosie said she knew well. Apparently, it was some kind of very dangerous poison; so bad that a drop on the tip of the tongue would be enough to fell a full-grown man. Fang had also managed to snatch a flashlight from the ground, and a wooden bowl. The boy from District Nine had also had a big, unfortunately empty pack with him, so they'd put all of their supplies inside it.

Fang wasn't too worried about their lack of food. He would have been more worried if they hadn't had Rosie with them, but she was a plant genius. Practically the whole way to their camp she'd been pointing out things that were edible and things that weren't. She managed to gather a cluster of perfectly harmless blackberries for them, and now they were eating them happily. All three of them were proud of their success of making it through the Bloodbath alive and well. _If things go like this I could be home in no time, _Fang thought, but then his enthusiasm dulled. _Is that what I want? No; I'd rather one of my allies go home than me. Especially Rylla. _Rylla was… well, there was something about her that Fang really liked. She was kind, and she seemed to like him despite the fact that he didn't talk much. _I'd give up my life for her, _he realized. _Which is funny, because I barely know her. But my life is so pathetic I wouldn't mind ending it for her. I'd end it for Rosie too, if she needed it._

After the three of them had met up and escaped from the Bloodbath, they'd gone down into the valley. They sat had sit down by a little stream that had turned into a small waterfall, splashing over the rocks for about six feet before turning back into a stream again. Rylla had been the one to notice the cave hidden behind the water, and now they were inside it, hidden away from anyone else who might come this way. They'd scooped up some water in the bowl and purified it with the iodine Fang had gotten, and now they were passing the bowl around, drinking their fill and munching on blackberries. They hadn't had anything to bandage Rylla's shoulder with, and it was a deep wound that still oozed a little blood now and then. It was the one thing that dampened their otherwise perfect success, but Fang was sure they'd find something to help her with eventually.

Rylla was excitedly telling Rosie about how great the blackberries were when Fang froze. "Shut up!" He hissed, staring intently at the cave entrance. All three of them immediately rose; they could see a blurry figure through their carpet of water. The figure staggered about for a moment, and then stopped moving, as though it had spotted them. Fang didn't wait; he lunged out of the water and grabbed the figure by the collar.

He realized that he was holding Garnet Painite, and almost dropped her. She looked horrific; her eyes were puffy and there was a cut on her lip that was bleeding down to her chin. There was a fat lump on her head where someone had probably hit her with something heavy, and a slash in her chest that was still bleeding freely. It looked pretty shallow and she probably wasn't going to die; that is, if Fang didn't kill her.

Rosie and Rylla came up behind him, and Rylla frowned. "Garnet?" She asked. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" Garnet snarled. "I was looking for you."

Rylla cocked her head. "Why? Here to kill us?"

Garnet lowered her eyes. "No," she admitted. "I mean, well, what I wanted… I want an alliance." Rylla nodded slowly.

"We're going to have to talk about this, Garnet," she said, pulling Rosie away. The two began to confer in sharp whispers for a while, Garnet staring at them anxiously. Fang had to admire her courage; she had come looking for them even though she was hurt and vulnerable, and she probably knew that if they didn't accept her, Fang would kill her. And yet she still stared at them bravely, unwilling to back down for a single second.

Rylla came up to Fang and pressed her lips against her ear. "I think we're going to keep her for a while. Are you okay with that?" He nodded slightly, and put Garnet down. She looked at the three of them anxiously.

"We're going to take you," Rylla said. "However, if we sense even a hint of treachery, you're going down. Understand?" Garnet nodded, and Rylla smiled, taking Garnet's bruised hand and gently shaking it. "Welcome to the team."

"Thanks…" Garnet said slowly. She walked over to a rock by the stream and knelt down, pulling up a small bag and a spear. She carried her supplies into the cave and sighed. "Do any of you use a spear? I'm okay at it, but I was hoping for a trident."

"I'm good with a spear," Rosie said quietly, and Garnet tossed it to her. Rosie took it and rubbed a hand along the wooden shaft, smiling a little.

"Okay, Garnet," Rylla said, getting down to business. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Treachery, that's what," Garnet said unhappily. "I was fighting Echo from District Two when that little bitch from District Twelve, Cypress, I think, snuck up behind me and hit me in the head with the hilt of her sword. I had no idea they were working together; but apparently they are because while I was preoccupied with almost being knocked unconscious they beat the shit out of me. I barely got out alive, although I hurt Cypress just as bad as I'm hurt, and Echo's injured too."

"Cypress and Echo, huh?" Rylla mused. "I'll admit, I didn't see that one coming." She narrowed her eyes at the cut on Garnet's chest. "I'll stich that up for you," she offered brightly, already reaching for the needle. Garnet paled.

"Oh, hell no," she said, but Fang already recognized that Rylla wasn't going to take no for an answer.

This would be… interesting.

* * *

><p>Merryn was proud of herself.<p>

She'd snatched a satchel that had turned out to have a bottle of iodine and a syringe in it, and had quickly run towards the mountain. She knew that the Bloodbath would kill her, and she'd avoided it as best she could. Someone had shot at her with an arrow and nicked her ankle, but she was fine. She wasn't sure what the mountain held for her, exactly, and she didn't even know if she was going to be climbing to the top of it, but she'd seen a really big alliance heading for the valley and didn't want to risk running into them. And now she was alone, with a couple of mockingjays singing their hearts out in the trees around her, and she had to admit that she was starting to get nervous.

She hadn't seen anyone other than at the Bloodbath, and she wasn't sure whether that was a good or a bad sign. She wouldn't be surprised if someone were stalking her right now, just waiting to finish her off. Merryn shivered instinctively; the more she thought about "finishing off" the more scared she felt.

She blinked in surprise as the trees thinned into a clearing. The base of the mountain rose in front of her, and as she looked at it she realized that there was no way she was going to climb it. She didn't have enough supplies to waste on going all the way to the top of that thing! She sighed. Now where could she go? _I guess I'll head back to the Cornucopia… _She stopped dead. What was that? It sounded like… no, it couldn't be…!

"Do you see something up there, Matt?" Dread filled Merryn, and before she could stop herself she was bolting towards the massive rocks piled around the base of the mountain. She dove in a large space between two of the rocks and went very still as she listened for any signs that she'd been spotted.

For a while there was nothing, and then she heard the crunch of two booted feet walking over the rocks. Merryn winced as they stopped on top of one of the rocks she was hiding under, but then they sat down and she realized that they were just resting.

"So, are we going to climb this thing or what?" The boy asked, crossing his legs. The girl shrugged, and Merryn realized that it was Mela from District Three.

"I don't think it's worth our time," she said. "Everyone from below will be able to see us and we'll be easy targets." _Wait; I thought Mela was an idiot? _A smile grew on Merryn's face. _Oh, that was smart, pretending to be dumb. Too bad that I know her secret now._

"Alright," the boy said. "Do you want to get off these rocks, then?"

"I think that's a good idea," Mela said. The two of them stood up and strode off in the direction they'd come. _Apparently no one wants to climb the mountain, _Merryn thought. _I bet there's something really good up there, but I know I'd die if I tried to get it._

She stretched a leg absentmindedly and turned when she realized that it went into empty space; not more rock. Her eyes, her beautiful, night-vision eyes, showed her something wonderful. Underneath the rocks was a tunnel, and when she squinted she could see that it led into a massive cavern. She didn't know what was in it or even why it was there, but she knew that it was the perfect place for her. _I can see in the dark and no one else can! They'll be stumbling around blind if they even find this place and I'll be able to see them! It's like it was built for me! _She turned around and shuffled into the tunnel. She didn't know what was down here and if it were safe or not, but Merryn was going in.

* * *

><p>Arista Ryans had done an incredible job in the Bloodbath today. She'd killed two people by herself, which she wasn't exactly proud about, but one of them had tried to kill her and the other had tried to steal her axe. Arista could tell that that axe was going to seriously be useful, and she wasn't going to part with it for anything.<p>

She sat idly by the base of a tree, going over her supplies. Other than her axe, she had two knives, a backpack filled with an apple, two oranges, a loaf of bread and a bottle filled with water, and a satchel that held a small flashlight. She packed everything away into her biggest bag, saving the axe. Ever since the girl from Seven had tried to steal it she watched it closely. It was a really good weapon, and she didn't want to lose it.

Arista looked up at her surroundings. She had run into the valley after the Bloodbath, and was now situated in a clearing where nothing much was going on. She figured that it was midday, and smiled. _I made it! _She thought to herself. _I wonder what everyone back home is thinking right now._

She got to her feet. She had needed a rest after all that hard running, but now she was going to continue on her way. She started into the woods and stopped suddenly. There had been a noise. It was very faint, but she was sure that it was there. She considered calling out briefly, but changed her mind when she remained stock-still for nearly five minutes and the noise did not repeat.

_I'm being too cautious, _she thought, starting forward again. _This is just ridiculous. _She yelped as the noise repeated, louder. It sounded like the rumble of some sort of engine. _What the hell is that? _She took a step, and the rumble sounded. "SCREW THIS!" Arista screeched, throwing herself forward desperately. The noise increased, and suddenly the bushes in front of her parted and Arista slammed her feet into the dirt, stopping herself just in time.

It was a pig. A big, ugly, humongous pig. A pig with tusks as long as Arista's arm, and sharp as the blade of her axe. A pig that was taller than her, and a pig with an insane red light in its eyes.

"A mutt," Arista murmured, and the pig squealed, enraged. Its little eyes focused on her and it stamped its front hoof.

"I'm facing down a pig," she said, practically lightheaded. "This should be fun." She raised her axe, the pig screamed, and they both lunged.

* * *

><p><strong>It's time for... TRIBUTE WATCH!<br>But first, here's an offical apology to Maysilee Survived for killing Lura in the Bloodbath. I really liked Lura, and was super sorry to have to do it.**

**And now... TRIBUTE WATCH!  
>Soleil Nike Callwyn<br>Heading to the mountain with Lysemet, Dillon and Landon  
>Kills today: None<strong>

**Landon Nodean  
>Heading to the mountain with Dillon, Lysemet and Soleil<br>Kills today: None**

**Echo Garnett  
>Sheltered at the Cornucopia with Cypress<br>Kills today: Rorie Jameson (BB character)**

**Mela Servitore  
>Leaving the mountain with Matt<br>Kills today: None**

**Rylla Stevens  
>Sheltered in a cave in the valley with Rosie, Fang and Garnet<br>Kills today: None**

**Dillon Murphy  
>Heading to the mountain with Lysemet, Landon, and Soleil<br>Kills today: Qwiss Qwail (BB character)**

**Ameth Azeleck  
>Hiding in the valley with Saber<br>Kills today: None**

**Matt Grove  
>Leaving the mountain with Mela<br>Kills today: None**

**Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow  
>Headed to the mountain with Dillon, Soleil and Landon<br>Kills today: Hu Phang (BB character)**

**Seren Alyona  
>Hiding in the forest near the base of the mountain<br>Kills today: None**

**Saber Anderson  
>Hiding in the valley with Ameth<br>Kills today: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>Fighting a mutt boar in the valley<br>Kills today: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Merryn Enya Night  
>Exploring the cavern under the mountain<br>Kills today: None**

**Garnet Painite  
>Sheltered in a cave in the valley with Rosie, Fang and Rylla<br>Kills today: None**

**Rosie Fullmoon  
>Sheltered in a cave in the valley with Rylla, Fang and Garnet<br>Kills today: None**

**James Austin Mocking  
>Resting in a copse in the valley; very close to Arista and the mutt boar<br>Kills today: None**

**Cypress Lockhart  
>Sheltered at the Cornucopia with Echo<br>Kills today: None**

**Fang  
>Sheltered in a cave in the valley with Rosie, Garnet and Rylla<br>Kills today: Blame Iemm (BB character)**

**That's it for Tribute Watch! When a tribute dies, they won't appear on the Watch anymore. With this, you'll always know where any tribute is at the end of each chapter. Sayonara, and hope you enjoyed the double update!**


	9. Blood and Kisses

**Hey guys!**

**I'm back, and so is the story! Things are getting interesting in this chapter, and there are a couple of fight scenes I had a ton of fun writing. Enjoy!**

**Love, Jayfish.**

**P.S. We hit fifty reviews! And now we're at seventy-two! No joke, you guys are WUNNERFUL.**

* * *

><p>Echo looked down at her ally. Cypress was not looking good; her face was badly bruised from where that bitch Garnet Painite had punched her, and she had a small but mildly deep stab wound in her pelvis from Garnet's spear. Of course; they had the whole Cornucopia; they could get her some medical supplies, but the point was that Echo had expected the both of them to do better on the first day. She'd expected more people to die, too, the cannons had sounded a short while ago and only six were dead. Six! That wasn't half as many as she'd expected.<p>

She hadn't fared well from Garnet's attacks. Garnet had punched her in the stomach, and now there was a strange hitch to her breathing that hurt the tiniest bit, like she'd pulled a muscle. _If Garnet Painite screwed me over for the rest of the Games, I'm going to kill her. _She sighed and sat down next to Cypress, who was staring stonily at the sky.

"What's up?" She asked, and Cypress turned to her, signature frown on her face.

"I am going to kill Garnet Painite," she said shortly, before looking back at the sky. It was clear and cool, with a few clouds ambling across the wide expanse of blue. Echo fiddled with her jacket; it was obvious that the jacket had been built for the mountain. She didn't know yet whether she wanted to go up there; it might be worth it, but right now they were at the best place to be in the Games. Giving up the Cornucopia would be like committing suicide right now.

Echo got to her feet and strolled to the Cornucopia. Many tributes had taken some good things, but there was still a ton left. Casually she picked up a bag before throwing it aside; only food. _Cypress and I could both use some medical attention right now, _she thought. _Garnet Painite made me lose a tooth. We should really go hunting for her, but there aren't enough of us to guard the base. God, I wish there were a Career pack this year._

She grinned as she opened a pack to find bandages, gauze and a tiny spray bottle labeled as an anesthetic. _This should come in handy, _she thought, walking back to her ally. "Hey Cypress!" She said, tossing the bag in front of the girl. "For your leg."

"Thanks," Cypress said gruffly, already pulling out the anesthetic. She sprayed a small amount into the hole in her pelvis and sighed; evidently it really did erase her pain. Then she moved on to the bandages; wrapping them tightly around her wound. Her already pale face got a bit paler with every twist, but she gritted her teeth and persevered until she had a neatly bound leg splayed in front of her.

"Can you stand?" Echo asked. Cypress gave her a look of pure derision and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah I can stand!" She exclaimed, swinging her legs underneath her and shooting to her feet. Echo sighed. Cypress was a good ally, but she was annoying as hell.

"Cypress, could you relax?"

"I'm relaxed," Cypress snarled.

"Really? Cuz you don't sound relaxed."

"So, what? You wanna fight or something?" She raised her fists and scowled darkly at Echo. Echo rolled her eyes.

"No, I don't want to fight," she said shortly. _Not until the final eight. But then I think I do._

_"_Whatever," Cypress said, sitting back down. For a moment, there was a tense silence, and then Echo spoke up.

"We can't stay here forever," she said. "Eventually the Gamemakers are going to drive us out. Do you want to go hunting tonight?"

Cypress shrugged. "Sure, I guess," she said. "We should find a water source too; there aren't that many bottles of water here." Her eyes flashed. "Are we looking for anyone in particular? Garnet, for instance?"

"I guess we could go after Garnet," Echo said. "I was thinking that girl from District Nine; the one who got a nine in Training, or the crazy girl from Six and her alliance."

"Yeah," Cypress agreed. "We should get her out of the picture before she comes back to screw things up for us." She leaned back on her hands and tipped her face to the sky. "But I still think we should go for Garnet," she said, and Echo had to agree with her.

* * *

><p>Mela stared at the expanse of forest before her and sighed. "I think we're lost, Matt," she admitted quietly, staring at the trees. "I feel like we've been this way before."<p>

"We might have been," Matt admitted, frowning at the trees as though they had personally offended him. "This damn arena is like a maze! Everything looks the same."

"Well, they're trees, Matt," Mela said. "I'm sure somebody who lived in District Seven would be able to tell the difference between them."

"Too bad we didn't join the alliance with Lura," Matt said. "I really was considering them. I wonder what Lura's doing right now."

"She's probably safe in the trees with Amethyst and Saber," Mela said, wanting to keep Matt focused on the problem at hand. "While we're wandering around here like idiots," she added. "Anyone could jump as right now. We don't even have any weapons except that weird thing you found on the ground, and we still don't even know what that does."

As soon as she mentioned it, Matt pulled it out of his pocket and rolled it around on his palm like an egg. It was shaped like an egg too, and made of metal. It didn't appear to do anything, and as far as Mela was concerned, it didn't. But the Gamemakers wouldn't have left it if it didn't have _some _use. It had been at the very edge of the Cornucopia, almost as if it had been left for any old tribute to find, but Mela got a strange feeling from it. It was dangerous, and it would be helpful.

"Put it away, Matt," she said softly. "We don't know what it does; maybe it's better if it stays hidden."

"Alright," he said amiably, stuffing it back in his pocket. He sighed. "I still think I've seen it before, I just can't recall where."

"Maybe it has something to do with mutts," Mela suggested. "Because you're from District Five and all."

"Maybe," Matt agreed. "The point here is that- what the hell?"

"What is it?" Mela yelped, looking at the forest around them wildly.

Slowly, Matt pointed a finger. Mela looked to the ground and winced as she saw the knife sticking in the grass in between Matt's feet. "Someone's attacking us," she said softly, just as the rock shot out of the sky and crashed into her skull.

* * *

><p>Seren Alyona nearly jumped for joy at his perfect hit. He'd managed to get the girl from District Three right in the forehead with his rock, and as he watched she slumped to the ground, eyelids fluttering. It didn't really feel good to be running through the trees trying to kill people, but they were all going to die anyway. Only one person was going to win, and although Seren had no confidence that it was going to be him, at least he'd be killing people humanely, without any of the usual tortures that made the Hunger Games so entertaining for the Capitol citizens to watch.<p>

There was no cannon, and he was glad for a second, despite the fact that he'd been aiming to kill. The rock had bounced off the girl's forehead, cutting her. A trickle of blood ran down her pale face. Her ally was over her at once. "MELA!" He cried, for the moment too preoccupied to notice Seren swinging down from the trees silently, like a monkey. He landed on the grass behind the boy and picked up his knife.

He took one step and the boy froze, turning around quickly. Both of them paled; apparently the boy was just as bad at hand-to-hand combat as Seren was. Seren held out the knife threateningly. "I'll be going now," he said. "Follow me, and I'll kill you." _Oh God, I don't want to kill you. But I have to; don't you understand? _The boy nodded, and Seren slowly stepped around him and his female companion. He looked down at the girl and her blood for a moment. "I... I hope she's okay," he muttered, ashamed of himself, and bolted.

He listened as he ran, but the boy didn't give chase. _He's probably going to do something about that girl, _Seren thought. _I wish I hadn't said that; it's going to make me look weak. But then again, I'm kind of glad that I did._

For a moment, he stopped, breathing heavily and listening for any sounds of pursuit. He didn't hear anything, but his breathing was loud enough that he could be drowning it out. Slowly, he slumped down onto the grass, and a tear slipped down his face. He brushed it away unhappily, and sighed. "I tried to kill her," he said, another tear slipping out. "I can't believe it. I'm disgusting."

He got up and brushed his light blonde, almost white hair out of his reddish eyes. "Alright," he said, swallowing the rest of his tears. "Alright, I can do this. I just have to keep going. I still have my knife, and I didn't get injured. I have to keep going. Keep going, Seren, keep going."

"Keep going, Seren, keep going! Ha-ha, that's a pretty song. Thanks for it, Seren!" He turned and shuddered; Lysemet was standing in the forest, holding a bullwhip and smiling at him.

"Oh crap," he said, and she stepped out of the foliage.

"Oh crap is right," she said, and raised the arm with the bullwhip. The whip cracked once in the air, and she brought her hand down. For a second, he felt nothing, and then yelled as there was a burning sensation in his ankle. He crashed to the ground, and she jumped on top of him, feet on his chest. _I... Can't... Breathe! _He thought, thrashing. Lysemet laughed and wriggled, pressing him more firmly into the ground and squashing all the breath out of him.

"Lysemet from District Six, killed the boy from District Six, all the kids from District Six, mourn the boy from District Six, while Lysemet from District Six, lives to go home to District Six. Not one of my best rhymes, but it'll have to do." She giggled briefly. "You know," she said conversationally. "I don't really enjoy killing, but I love blood. Do you see the predicament?"

"Get... off... me..." Seren gasped. She shook her head and smoothed the hair out of his face.

"Blood," she sighed, and he realized that she had a knife. It glinted in the light, and he realized with a sick feeling that she was going to cut him with it. "Sorry," she said. "I'll pray for you." She brought the knife down, and he yelled as she cut him on the lip. His metallic blood ran into his mouth, and flashes of hot pain traveled through his body. He wasn't going to cry, though; he would show the girl no fear, even if she tortured him to death.

He cringed as Lysemet leaned down. "Have you ever tasted it?" She whispered, the tip of her tongue pressing against the cut. Another wave of blood erupted from his wound, and he grunted. "Mmm," Lysemet said, pressing her lips against his bleeding wound. "Delicious," she mumbled.

"LYSEMET!" Seren pulled his bottom lip away from the girl as she turned her head to look at the boy who'd called her name. Seren recognized him as the boy from District Four; he crossed over to them and grabbed Seren by the collar, pulling him away from Lysemet. "What the hell are you doing?" _Does he like her? _Seren thought. _Oh. That must be why he's so upset; it probably looked like we were kissing._

Lysemet's eyes widened, and Seren thought he saw a few tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "I don't know," she whispered. "Do you know what it's like to be crazy, Dillon? Everything gets twisted; sometimes you can't tell what you're doing." She looked at Seren, and he could tell that she really was crying. "I'm sorry," she said. "Dillon will kill you quickly. I shouldn't have done that. It was wrong."

Seren looked up to see Dillon pulling a knife out of his back pocket. _No! _He thought. _I can't die yet! _Dillon raised the knife and stared at him with pitying eyes.

"No!" Seren screamed, slashing out with his knife. Dillon groaned and crumpled; Seren had slashed deeply into his ankle. Seren leaped to his feet and started to run; moving past Lysemet, who was still crying. She smiled at him through her tears, and half-heartedly slashed her whip in his general direction. She managed to sting his arm, but that only got him running faster.

He heard the sounds of Dillon trying to get to his feet and pursue him, and heard the air whistle as Dillon threw a well-aimed knife at him. He ducked his head and the knife blew over his neck, scratching the nape of his neck before clattering to the ground. He bent and snatched it up before jumping over a fallen log and hurrying into the forest. He didn't think Dillon would chase him; he'd stabbed him in the ankle pretty badly. His own ankle was burning, but it still held his weight, for now at least. His split lip throbbed every time he hit the ground, and sticky wet blood covered his chin. _Keep running, _he told himself. _I've got to keep running._

He nearly screamed as an arrow whizzed past his forehead and stuck in a tree in front of him. _Oh crap, there are more of them? _He lunged and sighed breathlessly at the sight of the girl from District One. She was standing in a clearing, and he moved by her so fast she didn't even have time to slash at him with one of the swords she held in her hand.

_Come on, Seren! _He coached himself on. He broke out of the forest and immediately went for the giant rocks at the base of the mountain. He could hear the girl from District One coming after him, and somebody else, as well, but there was no time to look behind and see who it was. He scrambled onto one of the massive rocks and began to dart erratically over them, hoping that he wasn't about to be hit by an arrow. He couldn't help himself; he glanced back to see both District One tributes coming after him, pounding across the white rocks. The boy had a bow and arrows, and the girl still had her twin swords. They shone in the light, and for a moment Seren imagined his blood splashed across them before turning back around.

His ankle throbbed once and suddenly Seren realized that there was no ground beneath him. The air rushed and he slammed into the ground hard. _I must have fallen in a crack between the rocks. Oh crap._

He flipped over and looked around himself. It was a fairly small space, but when he looked over at one side of the enclosure he realized two things very quickly. The first was that there was a tunnel stretching out under the rocks that was pitch black and probably led under the mountains. The second was that there was something hurtling towards him. He realized that what he was seeing was the girl from District Nine, Merryn, throwing herself forward desperately. She made it to the end of the tunnel and jumped out of the space between the rocks, and Seren saw what she'd been fleeing from. It was an albino lizard mutt with a long purple tongue and needle-like teeth splayed out from its jaws. It didn't have eyes, but he had complete confidence that it knew where he was. He scrambled out of the hole as fast as he could, and groaned as he was confronted by the boy and girl from District One, who were holding Merryn tightly. Seren had thrown his knife at the girl from District One before he knew what he was doing, and she dropped Merryn to deflect the hit with her sword. Merryn darted to Seren's side, and nodded at him. "Thanks," she said, and her eyes widened as she looked behind them. "Get away from the hole, Seren!" She yelled, and he felt something clamp onto his already injured ankle. Gravity and the lizard dragged him into the hole for the second time that day, and he hit the rock with the back of his head, hard.

The lizard crawled onto his chest, hissing, and he heard something thud into the hole. His vision was beginning to swim, and his ankle felt hot and cold and horrific. His veins felt as though they were writhing under his skin, and he thrashed in agony. "Damn," he heard Merryn mutter. "Seren's been poisoned. Seren, can you hear me?"

Seren could hear her, but his tongue was swelling up and he was in no position to answer her. He moaned and hoped she understood. He could hear the lizard scrabbling off his chest, probably going after Merryn. He opened his eyes to see Merryn sliding away from the lizard slowly, the knife he'd thrown at the girl from District One in her hand. "District One ran away," she told Seren, eyes never leaving the mutt's. "Apparently they think you and I are going to die down here." The lizard's mouth opened and it whined softly, tensing its legs. "But if they think that, they don't know us!" Merryn said, throwing the knife directly into the lizard's open mouth. The mutt slammed its jaws shut around the blade and froze. A droplet of blood leaked between its closed jaws, and it thudded to the ground, white ropy tail falling against Seren's leg.

Even the tiny pressure anywhere near the wound from the lizard's bite was too much for him. He screamed in pain and arched his back, froth gathering at the corners of his mouth. _I'm going to die, _he thought, clawing at his arms in a desperate attempt to make the pain go away. _And right after I nearly killed Mela, too. Isn't that ironic?_

The insides of his eyelids were a thick, soupy red. _I never thought red could be so ugly before. _Stars began winking in his vision, and he felt himself slipping away. _Help me, Merryn. _And then the lizard had him, and dragged him down, into the darkness where nobody could save him.

* * *

><p>James had it made.<p>

He'd left the Cornucopia with some pretty basic stuff. He'd snatched a slingshot, which he pretty much had no use for, and a pack filled with granola, which he could use. Of course, it would be nice if he'd gotten some water, but of course his pack hadn't had any. He hadn't gotten a sword either, which is what he'd been aiming for, and the knife he'd tried to get had been stolen by some little girl that he thought was from District Five. He hadn't tried to get it back; there would never be a day when James fought a woman. Well, maybe there would be eventually, but for now, women were sacred territory and he was not going to mess things up by attacking one.

He smoothed down his dark brown hair and fingered his slingshot. He considered tossing it away, but decided not to at the last minute. _Who knows; it could end up being useful. _

James stretched his legs and got to his feet, yawning. He was headed deeper into the valley, where he figured there would be something, hopefully something he could use. _If I'm going to be the Victor, I'll have to think ahead of the game. And so far, I think I must be the only person looking for something special in the valley. Maybe not, but we'll see who gets there first._

He took one step when he heard the scream. He cocked his head; it hadn't sounded human to him. Despite being from the agricultural district, James knew animals, and he figured that he'd just heard a pig scream. _Okay, I'm not going over there. _He started on his way, and sighed as he heard what sounded like a girl yelling. _Still not going. _He took a step, and heard the clash of metal on metal. _Maybe just for a minute._

He jogged towards the sounds of what was probably a raging battle. _I don't have to help at all, _he reminded himself. _All I have to do is observe. I don't actually have to- whoa. _

The girl from District Eight, Arista Ryans, was wielding an axe and facing down a very angry boar. James whistled, and both of them looked at him. _Whoops. _The pig screamed and scraped its cloven hoof against the ground, shaking its massive head. "Hey Arista!" James called, not looking away from the pig's angry eyes. "If you feel up to it, could you toss me a weapon?"

"Hell no!" Arista snapped, waving the axe in a complicated arc around her head and getting the boar's attention. "Get your own!" The pig screeched and lunged at Arista, and she chopped at its tusks. The brute force of the pig's lunge pushed her back, and she stumbled into a tree, thudding to the ground. The pig raised a razor-sharp tusk to finish her, when James whistled again. It turned in annoyance and started towards him, snotty nostrils blowing foul-smelling air in his face. It lowered its tusks and charged, preparing to impale him.

James sighed and jumped, landing on its snout. "Naughty pig," he said easily, jumping onto its head and grabbing its ears, which he yanked violently. The mutt wailed and shook, trying to throw him off, but he held on. He grinned for the cameras. "Nobody tries to kill James Austin Mocking!" He reached into his pack with one hand and pulled out his slingshot, the butt of which he jammed into the pig's eye. It roared and finally threw him. He soared through the air and landed on his own two feet next to Arista, who he winked at. "Now just imagine what I could've done with a knife!"

"Oh, shut up," she exclaimed, getting to her feet shakily. The boar was also shaky; it turned to the both of them, blood streaming from its ruined left eye. It looked a lot scarier now; facing them quietly and coldly. It breathed out once and began to walk towards them, each hoof beat sounding like a gunshot.

"Arista," James said urgently. "Give me a weapon."

"No way," she exclaimed. "How do I know you won't kill me with it?" James rolled his eyes in disgust.

"I hate to say this, but you're an idiot. I know it was rude, but I didn't want you to live the rest of your life without knowing the sad truth. Luckily for you, the rest of your life won't be very long because you won't let me help you!"

"Screw off!" Arista exclaimed, running at the pig first. It was motionless as she jumped at it, slashing at its snout, but it jerked its head suddenly. She gasped in pain and was thrown back at James. He caught her in his arms expertly, and saw that the pig had hit her in the chest with the blunt side of its tusk; not enough to kill her, but it was possible that she'd broken a rib or two. Her face was very pale, and her breath came in short gasps. Gently, he put her on the ground.

"Knife," he said, and she reached into her pack and handed him one. "Good girl," James exclaimed, turning to the boar and presenting it the blade. He grinned evilly. "This bastard won't know what hit him," he said, running forward. The pig lowered its head, probably intending to slash upward with its talons, so instead of jumping at its head James slid underneath its fat pink body. It squealed, and he jammed his knife into its thick neck, turning and twisting the blade violently. Bright red blood splashed down onto his arms, and the pig stomped at him with hooves that were most likely harder than diamonds, but he persisted, trying to cut deeper into the pig's fat neck, until it moaned and sighed, slumping forward. He snatched the knife and rolled as it crashed to the ground, barely avoiding being squashed by five hundred pounds of pork. Slowly, he got up, looking at Arista. She was leaning against one of the trees, looking stunned, and James gave her a theatrical bow. "And that, my friends, is how you kill a pig," he exclaimed.

Arista stared at him, mouth gaping. As he watched, she raised an arm to her chest and coughed up some blood. "Oh crap," James said, hurrying towards her side. He out an arm around her and she stiffened.

"Get off me," she growled.

"No," James said, scooping up her legs. She looked like she wanted to struggle, but her torso was seriously bent out of shape and apparently she didn't want to risk it.

"Put me down…" She whispered. A little more blood dripped down her chin, and James felt an incredible urge to protect her.

"No, now shut up and go to sleep or something," he ordered her gently. Before her eyelids fluttered shut she rolled her eyes, and he smiled. He picked up her pack and her axe. "Alliance? I think yes," he said. "But first…" He turned to look hungrily at the boar. "Dinner!" He said, striding over to its body and pulling out his knife. It felt strangely wrong, but he cut off a couple of thick strips from the unfortunate mutt's flesh and stuffed them in the bag. "That should keep us satisfied for a while," he said. Arista's head lolled on his shoulder, and he smiled.

Only one of them could win the Games, but an alliance couldn't hurt. Besides, with his good looks and obvious charm, Arista would come over to his side as soon as she woke up. James grinned down at her sleeping face. "We're going to the end of the valley now," he told her, even though she couldn't hear. "Wake up soon; you're not as light as you look." He knew that he'd probably have been punched for that if she'd been awake, which was exactly why he was glad she was asleep. "James Austin Mocking and his sidekick, Arista Ryans," James tried. It sounded good, and he grinned. "I'll keep you safe," he murmured, and headed towards the end of the valley.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, so no deaths this chapter! Yay for no deaths... But don't worry, they're coming, if you people enjoy hearing about tributes dying!<strong>

**TRIBUTE WATCH! Two things before that though: I decided to make the 'kills today' section just 'kills,' because most characters aren't going to be doing that much killing. Also, I'm adding any injuries the tribute might have to the Watch, because hell, it's important! Alright, here we go!**

**Soleil Nike Callwyn  
>At the base of the mountain with Lysemet, Dillon and Landon; uninjured.<br>Kills: None**

**Landon Nodean  
>At the base of the mountain with Lysemet, Dillon and Soleil; uninjured<br>****Kills: None**

**Echo Garnett  
>Sheltered at the Cornucopia with Cypress; slight painful hitch to breathing and missing tooth<br>Kills: Rorie Jameson (BB character)**

**Mela Servitore  
>In the woods near the mountain with Matt; unconscious and bleeding from a small cut on the forehead<br>Kills: None**

**Rylla Stevens  
>Sheltered in a cave in the valley with Rosie, Fang and Garnet; stab wound in shoulder<br>Kills: None**

**Dillon Murphy  
>At the base of the mountain with Lysemet, Landon and Soleil; deep cut in ankle<br>****Kills: Qwiss Qwail (BB character)**

**Ameth Azeleck  
>Hiding in the valley with Saber; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Matt Grove  
>In the woods near the mountain with Mela; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow  
>At the base of the moutain with Soleil, Landon and Dillon; uninjured<br>Kills: Hu Phang (BB character)**

**Seren Alyona  
>In the cavern under the mountain with Merryn; poisoned by the lizard mutt, a whip slash on the shoulder, a deeply cut lip, and a whip slash on the ankle<br>Kills: None**

**Saber Anderson  
>Hiding in the valley with Ameth<br>Kills: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>Being carried to the end of the valley by James; unconscious, and has two ribs that have moved out of place<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Merryn Enya Night  
>Trying to save Seren in the cavern under the mountain; scrapes on hands and knees from running away from the lizard mutt<br>Kills: None**

**Garnet Painite  
>Sheltered in a cave in the valley with Rosie, Fang and Rylla; bruises on face and shallow cut on chest<br>Kills: None**

**Rosie Fullmoon  
>Sheltered in a cave in the valley with Rylla, Fang and Garnet; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**James Austin Mocking  
>Carrying Arista to the center of the valley; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Cypress Lockhart  
>Sheltered at the Cornucopia with Echo; stab wound in pelvis, bruised face<br>Kills: None**

**Fang  
>Sheltered in a cave in the valley with Rosie, Garnet and Rylla; uninjured<br>Kills: Blame Iemm (BB character)**

**I'll have the next update out ASAP, and I hope you're all enjoying this story as much as I am!**

**Heheh, poor Seren did really badly in this update, but he's still alive! For now... :D**


	10. Life Isn't Fair

**I don't have much of an introduction today. Um, enjoy the story...?**

**Pathetic.**

**Here's a better one: TRY to enjoy it despite this crappy excuse for an introduction... I understand if you can't.**

* * *

><p>Ameth shivered and wrapped her coat tighter around her frail frame. Beside her, Saber snored gently, caught up in some sort of dream that Ameth wished she could be sharing. It was finally night, and both of them, against all odds, had survived the first day. Saber had been completely exhausted, and had begged Ameth to stay up and watch the anthem and the faces in the sky. Both of them had a very bad feeling that Lura would be up there, because they hadn't seen any sign of her yet.<p>

Ameth jumped as the anthem began to play. She looked up into the starry sky and pressed her back against the bark of the tree they were in, trying to ignore her growling stomach. Lura was going to get their supplies, and if she was dead that meant Ameth and Saber had nothing except the knife that Ameth had snatched from right under the boy from District Eleven's nose. She fingered the blade of the knife anxiously, worried sick by what she was about to see.

She ignored most of the faces in the sky, focusing on the one she desperately didn't want to see. But sure enough, when District Seven rolled along there was Lura, grinning bravely down at Ameth. Despite herself, she felt tears welling up in her eyes; she had hoped beyond hopes that one of her only friends in the arena would make it. Apparently not. She slumped back against the tree and ignored the rest of the faces; they were meaningless. All that mattered was that Lura was gone, and with her so was every chance of Ameth and Saber making it.

She stood easily and slipped up a few branches to where the fork she was sleeping in was situated. She'd made Saber stay closer to the ground so he wouldn't be too hurt if he fell; he wasn't much of a climber, didn't have the build for it. He'd been slightly chubby when they'd headed into the arena, but Ameth was already seeing the signs of his losing weight; at least he wouldn't starve right away. She on the other hand, wouldn't survive too long without food.

The faces in the sky faded away and she snuggled into her jacket, slipping her skinny knees inside as well to keep warm. The mountain was probably what the jacket had been built for, but the nights out here were cold, and the jacket wasn't half bad at protecting her from this cold either.

She rested her head against the bark and closed her eyes, exhausted but too scared to sleep. _Any moment out here could be my last, _she reminded herself unhappily. _I've always got to be on my toes, or someone will kill me. I don't want to die._

She forced her eyes to stay shut and tried to count mutts, a game her parents had taught her would put her to sleep faster than anything. _I really miss them. Oh right, back to mutt counting. Okay, there's one really ugly fish mutt, that's one. There's a monkey mutt, so that's two. Ooh look, a shark mutt, let's make that three…_

The snap of a twig awoke her some time later. She could tell that she'd been sleeping for some time; the position of the moon had changed drastically and it was a lot colder. She breathed out and her eyes darted across the brush beneath her, searching for whatever it was that had made the sound. She didn't have to hunt long; she could clearly see the two girls beneath her tree. Both carried flashlights, and both were arguing in loud voices.

"…I told you, she's going to be in the valley," the smaller one complained, crossing her arms over her chest. "We should be going farther down instead of hanging around here. There's nobody around."

"And _I _told _you_, it doesn't have to be Garnet tonight. We can save her for some other time. We just need to get someone out of the picture now, any random tribute will do."

"Yeah, whatever," the smaller one said, tossing her flaming red hair and leaning against the trunk of Ameth's tree. "I'm getting tired, let's take a break."

Ameth rolled her eyes, remaining perfectly still in her tree. _They're obviously too blind to see us up here, so if we don't move they'll go away. Anyway, now would be a good time to spy on them._

"Sure," the bigger one said, setting her flashlight on the ground and sitting down next to it. "So, how's your pelvis holding up, Cypress?"

"I told you it was fine," Cypress complained. "Don't be such a mother duck, Echo." _Jeez, what a brat, _Ameth thought.

There was a soft sigh, and Ameth froze, chills running down her spine. Slowly, she looked down to see Saber's eyes fluttering. _Oh, no. This is a really bad time, Saber. Just be quiet, okay?_

"God, I was just asking, Cypress. No need to be nasty about it."

"I wasn't being nasty," Cypress snapped, thumping her fist against the tree. Saber jerked and snorted, eyes opening. Both girls looked up in unison, and as he tried to look down he lost his balance and tipped over, falling out of the tree and in between the both of them. They both jumped, and Ameth groaned before leaping nimbly out of the tree herself.

Cypress and Echo had snatched their respective weapons, a sword and a spear, and Cypress kicked Saber over, twirling her sword expertly. Neither of them noticed Ameth. "What do you say, Echo? Is this one good enough for you?"

Echo shrugged. "Fine by me. Just kill him quickly, Cypress."

Cypress shook her head and chuckled, looming over Saber with a grin on her pretty face. "We need to give the Capitol a show," she said, kneeling down beside the fallen boy. "Wouldn't want things to be too boring, would we?"

Saber's eyes were wide in terrified anticipation, and he gave a tiny whimper when Cypress pressed the tip of her sword against his collarbone. Ameth narrowed her eyes; now was the time to act. Before either Cypress or Echo knew what was happening, she'd clubbed Cypress over the head with the hilt of her knife. The girl fell over, and Ameth grabbed Saber's hand, pulling him to his feet. "Run!" She cried, pulling him through the foliage with her.

She heard Cypress snarling behind her, and knew that she hadn't gained much time by knocking her over. "Run faster, Saber!" She pleaded, and he did his best, pumping his legs as fast as he was able. Ameth sighed. _He's good at some things, but he's not nearly as fast as me. _For a split second, she entertained the idea of dropping his hand and sprinting away. She could outrun Echo and Cypress easily, although Saber probably couldn't. But she pushed the idea away. _I'm not going to sacrifice Saber to save myself, _she thought. _I'll be with him to the very end._

They were running uphill towards the Cornucopia, although they hadn't reached it yet and Ameth couldn't see it. _We're not going fast enough, _Ameth thought, and dragged Saber forward with a burst of energy. He was weighing her down, but she refused to let go of him. _That's probably what the Capitol wants me to do, _she reflected. _So I'm not going to do it._

The air whistled and Echo's spear nicked Ameth's collarbone before clattering to the ground. She wasted a few precious seconds to snatch it up, and she whirled around and hurled it at the two girls as hard as she could. They weren't very far behind, and Echo easily caught the spear, giving Ameth a sardonic grin. Ameth winced and she began to run again.

Saber's breath was coming in short gasps, and she realized that he wasn't going to be able to run much longer. "Come on, Saber," she begged. "Don't stop now." Echo's spear whizzed by and this time Ameth snatched it and broke its shaft, dropping it to the forest floor. That took the freaking thing out of the picture.

She grinned futilely as she spotted the Cornucopia in the distance. _It took us an hour to get to that spot last time, and we managed to run it in a few minutes. Amazing!_

Saber gave a gasping sob as they darted out onto the grassy plain, and shook his head, beads of sweat dripping from his nose. "I… can't," he gasped. "No more, Ameth… Please."

"Come _on_, Saber!" She cried, tears gathering in her eyes. She couldn't bear it if they took Saber away from her too. She just couldn't. "Please don't give up! We'll stop at the Cornucopia, I promise."

"… Okay," he agreed, and started forwards with renewed vigor, nearly passing Ameth for a moment. _That's the spirit!_

The Cornucopia loomed in all of its golden glory, and Ameth sobbed in relief. She was close enough to brush it with her fingers when Saber dropped her hand and fell to the grass, panting. "NO!" She screamed, turning in time to see Echo and Cypress looming over him. Cypress grabbed him by the hair and looked at Echo.

"Get the fast bitch," she panted, and Ameth could see that she was covered in sweat. Ameth balled her fists and started to run, but she was tired and Echo was too close. The girl grabbed her ankle and she fell, and in the next second she was being dragged, kicking and screaming, towards the piles of weapons around the Cornucopia. Cypress pulled a barely-resisting Saber along with her. They made it to the edge of the golden horn and Cypress pulled Saber to his knees, pressing her sword against his neck. "Say goodnight, little bastard." Saber said nothing, and she punched him in the stomach. "Say it!"

"Roast… in hell," Saber gasped. Ameth laughed, tears welling up in her eyes at her brave friend. She was still laughing as Echo forced her to her knees and bared her throat to the sky, pressing a knife blade against it.

"You forget that we hold your life in our hands," Echo said coolly. "This process could be fast, or it could take hours. It's all up to you. Now, what do you say, girl? Go on. I want to hear you say goodnight."

"Screw you," Ameth said simply, and Echo sighed.

"Okay, Cypress. You can do your whole torture thing. I'm not good at it. Who do you want to start with?"

"I'll take the little bastard boy," Cypress said, shoving Saber to the ground. She grinned and twirled her sword before slamming it through his palm. He groaned and gave a tiny sob, and Cypress laughed, pulling the glistening red tip from his skin.

"This is going to take a long time," she laughed, eyes glowing. "You and I are going to have so… much… fun… Aaah!"

Ameth looked up and nearly jumped for joy as she saw Mela Servitore standing behind Cypress. Mela had thrown a knife at Cypress, and now it was sticking out of the girl's shoulder. Cypress dropped Saber with a snarl and turned to Mela, yanking out the blade with her own hands.

"Oh, you are so going to regret that, bitch!" She snapped, pointing her sword at Mela. "I'm going to take you down!"

"I doubt it," Mela said, stepping forward. "Just try me."

"I will!" Cypress cried, coming forward like a whirlwind. Ameth noted Matt Grove popping out from behind the Cornucopia as well, looking as though he were going to join in the fight. Echo shoved Ameth to the ground and started over, but Cypress shook her head. "This is my fight!" Bemused, Echo hung back, looking at Cypress with unsure eyes.

"Mela, you only just woke up!" Matt complained, but Mela shook her head as well.

"Cypress is right; this is our fight. Please stay back." Matt looked as though it were killing him, but he walked to the side.

Cypress slashed at Mela, and the girl leaped over the blade and kicked Cypress in the face. Cypress reeled back, lip bleeding, and came after Mela again, snarling like an animal. Mela jumped away and grabbed a pack, belting Cypress across the face with it. Cypress knocked it away with her sword and slashed Mela's shoulder. There was a splash of blood but Mela didn't back down. She reached behind her and snatched up a bag filled to the brim with throwing knives. Cypress' eyes widened at the sight of them and she came forward, but Mela put her hands on Cypress' shoulders and shoved her towards the side of the Cornucopia before carefully lifting one of the knives.

_Oh no, _Ameth thought, wanting to close her eyes but not being able to. The first knife left Mela's hand and slammed into Cypress' shoulder, pinning it to the side of the golden horn. Cypress gasped and tried to pull away, but Mela's next knife hit her in the side of the neck and stopped her from moving her head. Mela went for the palms next, pinning them to the Cornucopia. She aimed at Cypress' hips and got them, too, and then she pinned the sides of her legs and her feet, until Cypress resembled nothing more than a bug pinned to a board for dissection. Cypress stared down at her pinned body and a crystal tear fell down her cheek. Her blood was pooling down her body and collecting at her feet. She tried to move and gasped as her flesh tore.

She looked up at Mela, who was aiming the last knife. Her eyes were sad and dark, and no longer did she look like the monster that'd chased Ameth and Saber through the woods. Now she just looked like a frightened young woman, which, in hindsight, was exactly what she was. "Get it right, okay?" She asked Mela, through barely trembling lips. Mela nodded, the hard look on her face never wavering for a second. She raised her hand and threw her last knife directly under Cypress Lockhart's trembling heart.

Cypress looked down at her bloody body for a moment, taking in the knife handle sticking from her ribs. "I… I had to die pinned to the Cornucopia?" Her eyes narrowed, and she grinned, coughing up blood. "That doesn't seem fair. Does it?" She looked outwards and strained against the bloody knives that held her firmly in place. "Does it?" Slowly, burning grin still fixed to her face, she slumped against the knives, tearing her flesh brutally in the process. A cannon sounded.

Mela fell to her knees in the grass, staring at the ruined body of Cypress Lockhart. "I never thought I'd do it," she admitted, tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped them away with the back of her hand. "Poor Cypress. That was a horrible way to die."

Everyone looked up at the sound of pounding footsteps. Echo Garnett was streaking across the grass in the direction of the forest, holding a replacement spear and a knife. As they watched, she entered the forest that led into the valley and was gone.

Ameth looked at Mela. The girl seemed friendly enough, and she hadn't tried to kill them yet. Besides, she'd saved Saber from being murdered by Cypress, so she couldn't be all that bad.

"Hello?" She said tentatively, and Mela jerked around before smiling fleetingly.

"Hi," she said. "I guess you know my secret too. More and more people are figuring it out lately…"

"Oh right!" Saber exclaimed, sitting up while cradling his bloody hand. "You were only pretending to be an idiot!"

"That's correct," Mela said, and looked at them both as though she were making a decision about them. "Alright," she said finally. "Matt, do you want to add these two to our alliance?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Matt said. "The more the merrier, right?" He frowned suddenly. "We should get out of here; they're gonna have to collect Cypress eventually."

"Supplies first," Mela said, already taking over the position of leader. "Saber, you sit tight for a minute, and Ameth will get you something for your hand. I don't think any of us are any good at playing doctors, so we'll just have to find some anesthetics and hope for the best, okay?" Saber nodded, pressing firmly on his hand in an attempt to stop the blood flow. There was still a healthy amount of blood; Cypress' sword had gone directly through his hand, and now there was a slim hole in it. _I hope he'll be okay._

Ameth began to rummage through the supplies for a minute, and couldn't help the furtive smile that crept up her face. Cypress, one of the most dangerous players in these Games, was dead, and she and Saber were alive. Now they had an alliance with two obviously strong individuals, and they were getting supplies from the Cornucopia.

Maybe Ameth had a chance of winning the Games after all.

* * *

><p>Landon stared into the depths of the forest, trying to discern anything moving in the blackness. He couldn't see anything, but then again, he really just couldn't be sure. And he really should be sure, seeing as he was the lookout and all.<p>

They were camped at the very edge, close to the base of the mountain but not too close. Apparently there were mutts down there, and Soleil had decided that they should be careful and spend the night as far away from the mutts as possible. They'd already taken Seren Alyona and the girl from District Nine, and although they hadn't heard any cannons yet both Landon and Soleil were convinced that the mutts were slowly torturing them to death, giving the Capitol people a good show. At any rate, they were going to be very careful climbing the mountain tomorrow.

The blast of a cannon rattled Landon's bones. _I wonder who that was, _he thought. _Probably Seren or the girl from District Nine. So that's seventeen left, huh? _He closed his eyes for a moment; imagining what it was going to be like when he died. _I wonder how it'll happen. Hopefully not too slowly. Anyway, as long as Soleil wins these Games, I don't give a damn how I die. I'll die in any way, as long as I can do it to protect her._

He looked over at her. She was curled on the hard ground, dark soft hair a pillow for her. He smiled down at her; she was really lovely when she was asleep. Absentmindedly he smoothed the hair out of her face, and before he could stop himself he'd leaned down and kissed her soft, pale cheek. _That's probably the closest she'll ever let me come, _he thought ruefully. _But I don't mind. I'm here with her now, protecting her, and not that idiot boyfriend of hers, Zuko. God, I am clearly the better choice. _He realized dismally that if Soleil won the Games and went back home, as was his goal, she'd probably get back together with Zuko. _But she'll never be able to forget me, _he thought. _I'll be forever burned into her memory as the one who died so she could live. And being remembered by her as all the courage I need to take my death bravely. I can do it. But I'll stick around with her as long as I can, to keep her safe._

Watching the trees was boring as hell, Landon reflected, especially when no one was going to attack such a large alliance as his. But he kept on staring doggedly at the trees. A mutt could show up, and if he'd fallen asleep he'd never forgive himself. He was still bored though, and couldn't stop himself from reliving the epic fight from today. Soleil had been furious at Dillon for adding a member of the alliance without asking her first, especially a crazy one. Lysemet had just stood there, giggling the angrier Soleil got, until finally Soleil turned on her and asked her, in quite impolite tones, to shut the hell up, and a delighted Lysemet grabbed her around the middle and hugged her as hard as she could. Soleil had just stood there, looking as though she were about to have an aneurism. Later she'd gone to Landon and asked him if he was perhaps considering breaking their alliance off soon. _After we get back from climbing the mountain, _she'd said, and Landon had hastily agreed. _A big alliance is good protection from other tributes and mutts and things, but Lysemet is a total nutcase. It's not a good idea to be in an alliance with her for too long. I wonder what Dillon's going to do when we leave; probably he'll stay with Lysemet, it's obvious he's smitten._

Lysemet sighed in her sleep, and suddenly her luminous eyes shot open. She sat up and yawned, stretching her back in a series of poses that looked as though they would break most people's spines. She cocked her head and Landon. "Are you tired?" She asked him quietly, coming to sit by him. He tried not to shudder. "I'm not tired," she admitted, resting her chin against her knees. "I'm never tired at night anymore."

"Why not?" He asked, and she stiffened. Her eyes were huge, and she was trembling.

"That… IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" She screeched, lunging at him. She slashed him across the face with her nails, and he toppled over. Lysemet jumped on top of him, punching at his face.

"For the love of God, get _off_!" Landon roared. _What the hell is wrong with this girl?_

Soleil and Dillon were waking up, and both of them gaped at the spectacle before lunging into action. Soleil grabbed her twin swords and Dillon grabbed Lysemet by the neck and dragged her away from Landon. As soon as she saw it was him, she stopped struggling and continued to glower at Landon. A trickle of blood ran down his cheek from where she'd dug in her nails.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He yelled. "I only asked you a question!"

Lysemet shuddered. "It was very personal," she said in a small voice.

"Personal? How is asking you why you're not tired personal?"

Lysemet's hands curled and uncurled reflexively, and she stared at a spot in the grass before opening her mouth. "You must be wondering what's wrong with me," she said quietly. "You're probably curious as to how I became what I am now." She cocked her head, evidently one of her favorite poses. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl whose father hated her," she began. "One day, the father left the little girl and her mother, and the little girl soon found out that he'd made a whole new family somewhere else. The little girl was upset and lonely, and she ran away, convinced she'd make a new life for herself. Well, the little girl hadn't been gone for long when she met a nice man in a white suit walking down an alley. He asked her where her family was, and she told him. He seemed happy by her answer, and offered her exactly what she'd been looking for: a new life. She told him she'd love to go with him, and he stung her in the arm with some sort of needle. When the little girl woke up, she was strapped to a table with tubes coming in and out of her arms, and many people did bad things to her; messing with her DNA and mixing it with the DNA of a dead owl they had with them. It hurt quite a bit, and somewhere in that white room, at some time in between screams, the little girl lost her mind completely. Eventually, the people declared her a failure, and sent her back to District Six, but she was never quite the same after that. And now, she's in the arena, and she knows she's going to die, but she doesn't care, because she's only here for one reason." She looked at the sky. "To show the Capitol _just how much I hate them_," she snarled.

For a full minute, no one spoke. Landon cleared his throat. "I'm sorry for asking," he said, and she looked at him.

"It's alright," she said. "But I'm not sorry for hurting you. Your blood is very nice." He cringed.

"Lysemet," Dillon said, sitting next to her. "You're- you're part mutt?"

She gave him a deadly stare, but then relaxed. "Yeah," she said, and sighed. "It's getting worse," she admitted, hunching over her feet. "The mutt side of me has never felt so alive before. Did you know that I can hear pretty much everything in a close range? It's weird to know that under our feet right now there's a vole or rat or something tunneling away. And as for my head, I don't think anyone I know can do this." She turned her head away from them all, completely around in a perfect 180 degrees. "Or this," she said, turning her head upside down in another 180 degrees. Landon was sure that her neck would snap, but she came out of the pose as though she'd done it a thousand times.

"And then there's my back," she explained. "Just look at it. There's something wrong with it, it hurts so much now." She lifted the back of her shirt and showed her back to all three of them, and Landon gasped, horrified. The skin on her back was shiny and tight, as though it were being stretched to the limit, and underneath it he could see the outline of something pressed against it that definitely wasn't her spine.

"What the hell is that?" He murmured, and Lysemet jerked back to a sitting position, eyes huge.

"You have no idea," she whispered darkly. "You have no idea how painful it is. Every day it gets worse. Even right now I can feel it… moving…" Her face went very white, and she gasped as though she were in pain. "It's starting!" She choked, arching her back. She gave a primal scream and threw herself to the ground, clawing at it as though it would diffuse her pain. All eyes were glued to Lysemet's back as it shivered and twisted, and then there was a tearing sound and a smattering of blood, and Lysemet gave one pure scream before collapsing on the ground, covered in tiny flecks of her own blood.

Landon stared, because it was strangely beautiful what he was seeing. Lysemet's back now had two slits in it, not very big, but bleeding freely. And, coming out of those slits and stretching into the sky, covered in her blood, were two huge, feather-covered wings. They fluttered in the breeze and snapped straight out as Lysemet pushed herself up from the ground, trembling. She turned her head and grinned when she saw the wings. "That would explain the pain," she mused, touching one lightly. "Looks like you Capitol monsters didn't fail your little experiment after all!" She screamed, and the wings beat the air into a frenzy before Lysemet closed her eyes in concentration. They shuddered, and began to slide, back where they'd come from, into her back, leaving only the slits to prove that they'd ever been there at all. "Retractable, too. Handy."

"That's impossible," Soleil whispered, and Lysemet shook her head.

"Nothing's impossible," Lysemet said happily. "Thanks, Landon. If you hadn't brought up my past this probably never would have happened."

"You're welcome," he said weakly, all the time cursing himself. _What have I done? _He looked at Lysemet's smiling face. _Oh, crap. Escaping from this one suddenly got a whole lot harder. And it's all my fault._

_I'm an idiot._

* * *

><p><strong>First of all, a million apologies to Mockingjay1 for killing of Cypress. I have to admit, writing her death was really fun, but I still feel bad... ON TO TRIBUTE WATCH!<strong>

**Soleil Nike Callwyn  
>At the base of the mountain with Lysemet, Dillon and Landon; uninjured.<br>Kills: None**

**Landon Nodean  
>At the base of the mountain with Lysemet, Dillon and Soleil; uninjured<br>****Kills: None**

**Echo Garnett  
>Hiding in the forest in the valley; slight painful hitch to breathing<br>Kills: Rorie Jameson (BB character)**

**Mela Servitore  
>Headed towards the mountain (again) with Matt, Ameth and Saber; slashed shoulder<br>Kills: Cypress Lockhart**

**Rylla Stevens  
>Sheltered in a cave in the valley with Rosie, Fang and Garnet; stab wound in shoulder<br>Kills: None**

**Dillon Murphy  
>At the base of the mountain with Lysemet, Landon and Soleil; deep cut in ankle<br>****Kills: Qwiss Qwail (BB character)**

**Ameth Azeleck  
>Headed to the mountain with Saber, Matt and Mela; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Matt Grove  
>Headed to the mountain with Saber, Mela and Ameth; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow  
>At the base of the moutain with Soleil, Landon and Dillon; two slits in back<br>Kills: Hu Phang (BB character)**

**Seren Alyona  
>In the cavern under the mountain with Merryn; poisoned by the lizard mutt, a whip slash on the shoulder, a deeply cut lip, and a whip slash on the ankle<br>Kills: None**

**Saber Anderson  
>Headed to the mountain with Mela, Matt and Ameth; stab wound in palm<br>Kills: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>Being carried to the end of the valley by James; unconscious, and has two ribs that have moved out of place<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Merryn Enya Night  
>Trying to save Seren in the cavern under the mountain; scrapes on hands and knees from running away from the lizard mutt<br>Kills: None**

**Garnet Painite  
>Sheltered in a cave in the valley with Rosie, Fang and Rylla; bruises on face and shallow cut on chest<br>Kills: None**

**Rosie Fullmoon  
>Sheltered in a cave in the valley with Rylla, Fang and Garnet; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**James Austin Mocking  
>Carrying Arista to the center of the valley; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Fang  
>Sheltered in a cave in the valley with Rosie, Garnet and Rylla; uninjured<br>Kills: Blame Iemm (BB character)**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! See you soon!**


	11. The Fight to End All Fights: Part One

**Hey guys! Well, this is it, my last update before school starts. Unfortunately, because of school I'm not going to be able to update once a day anymore. Now I'll be updating weekly (more if I can.) I promise that every weekend there'll be an update, though!**

**Alright, so there isn't much action in this chapter. Enjoy, and see you at the bottom for Tribute Watch!**

* * *

><p>Rylla yawned blearily and rubbed her eyes, staring up at the faint bars of light creeping through the waterfall that hid the cave entrance from view. She'd taken the last watch, and now she was exhausted. No one and nothing had attacked them, but in an alliance as big as theirs, having a watch seemed appropriate. <em>In an alliance as big as ours… <em>Rylla thought uncomfortably, staring at her sleeping companions. Fang was curled up in a corner of the cave, and Rosie and Garnet were snuggled together in the middle of the cave, snoring gently. Rylla sighed. _It's such a big alliance, _she thought unhappily. _And the worst thing is, I like these people. What's going to happen if we're the last ones in the Games?_

A cold feeling swept over her. _We won't be, _she thought to herself. _I'm going to do everything I can to make sure only one of us makes it to the end. I've already made my plan, and I'm going to execute it when we get down to the final twelve. _A hot wave of shame rolled over her, but she pushed it away. _I'll be doing them a favor, _she reminded herself. _The farther into the Games we get, the more painful each of the deaths are. I won't hurt them any more than I have to._

She jumped guiltily as Fang yawned and sat up. _I'll do Fang first; he's going to be the hardest. _Every time she looked at him, there was a spark inside of her, a spark she did her best to ignore. _It doesn't matter how I feel about him. Only one of us can win these Games, and it's going to be me. I'm pretty sure that's what he'd want, anyway._

"Hey," she said, and he nodded at her, noting the fuzzy sunlight. Instead of going back to sleep like she'd assumed he would, he crossed over and sat beside her, looking out at the water. "It's nice, isn't it?" She asked, mostly to keep the conversation going. Fang practically never even spoke to her, which might have had something to do with why she liked him so much. He never interrupted her when she was in the middle of something.

"As nice as it could be," he said. "Being in the Games and all." Rylla blinked, surprised.

"I think that's the most words you've ever said to me," she remarked, and he shrugged.

"Maybe."

She grinned. "There's the Fang I know." She felt gratified when he grinned too, and then mentally berated herself. _What am I doing? How can I even consider killing these people? They're my allies and they trust me; I'd be a monster if I stabbed them in the backs. Especially Fang._

"So why are you still up?" Rylla asked, pushing aside all thoughts of betrayal. _I don't have to make any decisions till the final twelve. _

Fang shrugged. "Wasn't tired," he said shortly, staring out through the water and into the hazy forest in the distance.

Rylla glanced longingly at the cave floor, and Fang caught the look. "Go," he said. "I'll keep watch." Rylla shook her head.

"No, I'm not that tired," she lied. _What am I doing? I should be distancing myself from him, not getting closer and closer to him! Stupid, Rylla! Stupid stupid stupid!_

"So… how are you holding up?" She asked lamely. _That was a dumb question; why'd I even ask?_

"Good," he replied. "What about you?" Gently, he touched her shoulder, and her whole body tingled. "That still looks bad," he commented, and she shrugged.

"Could be worse," she said. "It didn't screw me up completely; I can still fight, I think."

"I'm glad," Fang said. For a while, both of them stared out at the water. Rylla, being from District Four, liked water. She didn't think there'd be much of a chance to swim in this arena, but just knowing that she was close to a water source was comforting.

"Fang?" She asked softly, unsure about what exactly she was doing. "I just wanted to tell you… I think you're pretty great." _I shouldn't have said that. Who gives a damn if it's true; I can't kill him now!_

Fang looked at her, startled. "What?"

"I… I like you. I don't know how much yet, but I definitely do." Fang looked as though he was about to faint and Rylla didn't know if that were good or bad. His jaw worked for a moment, as though he was trying to tell her something, but nothing came out. "Fang?" She asked tentatively, and shook her head. "Forget it," she exclaimed, turning away and trying to hide her disappointment. It would've been nice to have someone to be with for a while in the arena, even if she was just going to betray them later, but now she could see that it wasn't going to happen. "Forget I ever said anything."

She flinched as she felt Fang tap her shoulder, and turned around to see his dark eyes filled with emotion. He looked almost exultant, and he exhaled with a sigh. "Rylla," he said huskily, and suddenly they were kissing.

She didn't know how it happened, exactly, but in about a millisecond their faces were pressed together. Rylla sighed and moaned as Fang's strong fingers massaged the back of her head. She leaned in to his kiss, and he breathed heavily through his nose to make up for the fact that his mouth was currently occupied by her tongue. _What am I doing? _She thought. _I like him, but… I'm not ready for this, exactly. I didn't think he liked me this much… he loves me. _He _loves _me_!_

She felt herself pressing against his chest, clasping him tightly to her. _What are all these emotions; I've never felt half of them before. It's almost like… it's almost like I have to feel them now, just in case I die. Is that the only reason I told him what I did? Maybe, I just don't know. But I think he likes me more than I like him. _

Fang fell back against the cave floor and Rylla rolled on top of him, twining her fingers in his hair. He grunted, and she murmured against his lips. _This feels so good. And the worst thing is that I think I could be doing this with anyone right now. Do I like him? Definitely. Do I love him? Not yet. And I don't think I'm ever going to get a chance to find out for sure._

She blinked as she heard a snort, and broke away from Fang's kiss to see Rosie and Garnet staring at them. She flushed and rolled off Fang, and he hastily sat up and brushed down his jacket, bright red as well. Rosie spoke first.

"I'm going back to sleep," she said, throwing herself down as though she were hoping that the entire episode she'd just witnessed had been nothing more than a dream. Garnet, however, was not going to let the two of them go so easily.

"So that's how you two feel about each other, huh?" She exclaimed, grinning evilly. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun to exploit." She fluttered her eyelids and blew some kisses at the two of them. "Goodnight, lovebirds!" She sang happily, snuggling herself next to Rosie again. She closed her eyes and then shot up, apparently having thought of a good parting shot. "Why don't you try to get some guarding done alongside your cute little antics, okay?" She laughed and lay down again, grinning like a loon.

"Jerk," Rylla grumbled, but she wasn't that mad. Somehow, strangely enough, Garnet added something to the group that it hadn't had before, and Rylla was tentatively beginning to count the girl as a friend. She still didn't fully trust her, but maybe that would come with time. _And then when they all trust me, I'm going to turn around and ruin it… Can I, now? I don't know, I don't think I can…_

Fang looked at her with eyes oozing emotion. "Rylla," he said again, and before she could stop herself she kissed him quickly on the lips.

"Garnet's right," she said. "Go back to sleep, you'll distract me." He looked hurt for an instance, but she kissed him again, more forcefully, and he grinned at her before flopping down next to his sleeping allies. Rylla smiled feebly, and turned again to look at the water.

_How do I feel about him? I like him… in a way, but I don't feel the love I think I'm supposed to. So I don't really love him, and I just kissed him and basically told him I did._

_I messed up. Big time._

* * *

><p>Merryn looked down at the body of Seren Alyona and knew that he was going to be okay.<p>

She'd worked on him all night. The poison from the lizard mutt had been spreading rapidly, but Merryn happened to be very familiar with that particular brand of poison, seeing as she was very familiar with that particular mutt. Before she'd been sent to District Nine, she'd worked in the mutt laboratories of District Five, cleaning up and things. This cleaning had led to her occasionally glancing at experiments and books which led to her knowing a lot about mutts in general and knowing the specifics of a few different species. As luck would have it, the lizard mutt was one of the first she'd learned about. It would die in direct sunlight, which was why she'd been trying to lead it outside, seeing as she hadn't had any weapons to dispose of it with. It's poison was also tricky to combat; it targeted nerves and was extremely painful as well as fast-working, so Merryn had been forced to drag Seren to the underground cavern as quickly as possible, which had probably hurt him, and then to dump him on the ground while she scooped moss from the walls into her hands and squashed them into a pulpy liquid. The Gamemakers had left the cure for the lizard in plain sight, but only those who had previously known about it would be able to use it. Merryn had, of course, already known about the moss, and she'd been delighted to see it. After it was mostly liquid she'd poured it into her syringe and jammed the needle into Seren's arm, and he'd stopped thrashing and moaning, although he was still covered in sweat.

Aside from her knowledge of mutts, Merryn didn't know a thing about healing, so she'd had to be content to sit and watch him as he slept. At one point she was almost sure that he was going to die; he'd gone very pale and his breathing and heartbeat had slowed to almost nothing, but abruptly the tempo of both had picked up again. And now he was resting peacefully; not sweating, and not pale, and she was pretty sure that meant she'd done something right.

She liked him. She had from the moment he'd saved her from the girl and boy from District One. He seemed like he would make a good ally, and the whole episode with the mutt had proved to her that she did need an ally after all. She hadn't seen any more mutts down here so far, but it was pretty much guaranteed that they were around here somewhere.

The cavern was a lot more extensive than Merryn had ever considered it would be. It was pretty tall and it stretched back, getting shorter as it went, until finally it reached two caves. Merryn had no idea where either of the caves went, and she was happy enough not knowing. Right now, she was sheltered behind two stalagmites next to an underground lake. She'd been scooping up tiny amounts of water in her syringe and purifying them before drinking, and now she gave them to Seren, figuring that he'd need some sort of hydration. She wished that she had a bigger container than her syringe, but she could live without one. _At least I have water, _she reminded herself. _Things could be worse; I could have nothing to drink at all. At least I know I'm not going to die from dehydration. That's a nice thought._

She looked down interestedly as Seren began to stir, a tiny moan escaping from his lips. _Speaking of lips, _Merryn thought, _his lips do not look good. _The top lip was fine, but the bottom lip had been completely split and was now only held together by a crusty-looking scab. _That's going to hurt like hell when he wakes up._

As soon as she thought it, Seren's eyes snapped open and he sat up, breathing heavily. His breathing slowed, and tensely he looked around himself, eyes huge. _Oh, _Merryn realized. _He can't see. _"Hey," she said, and he jumped.

"Who's there?" He asked, clenching his fists. Merryn sighed.

"Merryn Enya Night, from District Nine," she said. "You saved me, remember?" Seren closed his eyes, concentrating, and then he nodded.

"Oh, right," he said. "Um, where are we? And why can't I see anything?" A horrified look flitted across his face. "Am I- am I blind?"

Merryn shook her head, although he couldn't see her. "Nope," she said. "We're in a cavern under the mountain. Its pitch black down here, so… But if you look to your left, you'll see a dot of light. That's the exit."

Seren nodded. "You've been hiding down here?" He asked. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, there are mutts and things, and you can't see them."

Merryn inhaled sharply. She barely knew Seren, but she already trusted him completely, strangely enough. And, if she trusted him completely, there was no reason he shouldn't know about her secret… "The thing is," she said conversationally, "I can see in the dark. So this place is perfect for me." She could only imagine the gasps from the Capitol citizens listening in on this particular conversation. If she hadn't had any airtime before this, she was definitely getting her share now.

Seren seemed startled. "You can?" He asked. "How?"

"I used to live in District Five," Merryn explained. "I cleaned up the labs for a little extra money instead of going to school, and things worked out. My dad worked as a technician in the labs also, but I rarely saw him." She closed her eyes, immersing herself in the memory. "Once, my mother came over to the labs to bring the both of us back home; we were really late. She found me easily enough, but neither of us could find dad. By the time we did find him, mom was exhausted and cranky, and I wanted to leave too. Dad said he had something else to finish, and he walked off before we could stop him. Well, mom wasn't about to let him off that easily, so we decided to follow him after waiting for a bit. We passed through a room filled with white suits, which should have warned us, but we ignored them.

"And then we walked into the room that dad was in. It was filled with vats and smoke, and he was wearing a white suit that protected him from it. Well, neither of us was protected, and the smoke got into our eyes." She sighed. "When we woke up, we were back at home and mom was blind. Nothing seemed wrong with me until I turned off the lights in my room to go to bed and I could see everything perfectly. And eventually, dad sent us to District Nine, because he felt guilty and it was making him screw up his work. So, yeah. That's what happened."

Seren looked at the ground. "That's awful," he said. "About your mother, that is, and that you had to leave home."

Merryn shrugged. "It is what it is," she said simply. "Anyway, I'm pretty grateful that it happened now. We're totally safe down here; I'll be able to see if anything's coming for us from a mile away, and if it's a tribute they won't be able to see us. So this place is really good."

"I guess we're an alliance, then," Seren said, and Merryn nodded.

"I didn't spend all that time saving you just to send you on your way!" She laughed. He grinned.

"Thanks for that," he said. "I thought I was a goner when I blacked out. The only thing that hurts now is my lip." He touched it with the tips of his fingers and hissed in pain. "If I touch it, it really throbs," he explained. "I wish I'd never run across Lysemet."

"Lysemet?" Merryn asked. "Which one is that?"

"The girl from my district," Seren explained. "She's in an alliance with District One and Dillon, the boy from Four. She jumped me, and slashed my lip with her knife. She was going to do more, I think, but Dillon showed up and tried to kill me instead, and I stabbed him in the ankle and ran. Then I ran into District One, and then I ran into you and that evil lizard." He shuddered. "You'd be able to see if there were more, right?"

Merryn nodded and scanned the cavern quickly. "Nothing," she said. "Just to let you know, though, a few yards to your right is this big lake, and if you walk into it I'm pretty sure you'll get eaten alive by mutt fish. Every time I dip my syringe in the water, they swim up and try to bite me, but usually I'm too fast for them."

"Thanks for the heads up," Seren said. "I guess we'll just have to pretend as if I'm blind, and you'll lead me places."

"That should work!" Merryn laughed, smiling at Seren. She leaned against the stalagmite and blinked. "You must be hungry, right?" Seren's stomach growled, answering her question. "Okay, then. I'll go get you something to eat." _I bet that moss is edible. Not that it looks particularly delicious. _She glanced back at Seren, who was sitting facing the tiny point of light in the distance and waiting patiently for her return. _Having allies is pretty great, _she thought happily, and went to find Seren something better than moss.

* * *

><p>Arista groaned. Her head ached, and it felt as though someone had driven a sledgehammer into her chest. She considered sitting up, but as soon as she tried it there was a stab of pain and she thudded back onto what felt like wet grass, hissing expletives between her clenched teeth. <em>That freaking pig hit me in the chest, <em>she remembered unhappily. _Stupid mutt. And then James showed up and killed it for me- or was it just so he could gain my trust? Of course, he could've just killed me when I was unconscious… I guess I should thank him._

She opened her eyes, and the green color of healthy trees swam into focus above her. _How wonderful for the trees; I wish I could say the same about myself. There's definitely something wrong with my torso. _

She turned her head as far as she could without intense pain to see James sitting over a fire, cooking away. _Don't cook, you idiot! That betrays your position to everybody in the arena! Not like there's anybody to find us here… After all, there aren't any Careers this year._

"James…" She whispered. She'd meant to bark his name, but her lungs just weren't cooperating with her this morning. He turned at the sound of his name and saw that she was awake.

"Arista!" He exclaimed, coming over to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Awful," she wheezed, and he nodded.

"That makes sense, seeing as you dislocated two of your ribs."

"Shit," Arista moaned. "This is not good."

"Don't worry; I'll take care of you," James said chivalrously. "We'll get through this together, even if I have to carry you everywhere."

"Like hell we will," Arista exclaimed. "You don't happen to have any medical training, do you?" James shook his head, and she released a pent up breath in a puff of air. "That makes things more difficult. Okay, give me your hand."

"I knew you'd come around!" James exclaimed, and she shot him a deadly glare. He extended his hand, and she took it.

"This is simple," she exclaimed, breathing shallowly. "I'm going to breathe in as hard as I can, and my lungs will expand, popping my ribs back into place. You'll stand there and let me squash your hand when I have to, because this is gonna hurt."

"Alright," James exclaimed. "Let me know if you need anything." Arista ignored him and sucked in a huge mouthful of air, groaning as sharp pains stabbed her torso in various places. _It isn't enough, _she thought. _I need to do it again. _She sucked in another breath, and her body quivered. It felt as though someone had stabbed her heart with a needle, and now the punctures were spreading over her entire torso. _One more! _She thought, and jerked her head back as she breathed. She could feel the bones in James' hand grinding together, but he didn't make a sound.

There was the tiniest of popping sounds, and Arista groaned in relief as she felt the bones in her chest shift. She sighed and took a breath; the burning sensation in her chest had been replaced by a dull throb that she could handle. She dropped James' hand and let her own fall to the earth. _I think I'm going to black out, _she realized. _Oh, well. It'll probably only be for a few minutes. _Sleepily, she allowed her eyes to flicker shut, and the last thing she saw before she fell into unconsciousness was Echo Garnett plunging out of the trees with a spear in her hand.

* * *

><p>Echo could not believe her luck. She'd seen the smoke from some sort of fire rising above the trees, and had hastened over to check it out. To her surprise, James Austin Mocking and the girl from Eight were both there. <em>They'll be easy kills, especially since the girl from Eight just blacked out.<em>

She charged out of the trees with her spear; better get it over with as fast as possible. She raised it just as James turned around. His easygoing expression darkened, and he dodged to the side as she stabbed at him. To her surprise, he grinned at her. "Bad move, Garnett," he said, pulling a knife out of his pocket. "You're going to regret this."

She snorted. "In your dreams, Mocking," she exclaimed, pulling her own knife out of her own pocket. "I think you're going to be the one regretting not running away from me after I destroy you."

James laughed coldly, and they both began to circle. "Don't be a fool," he said. "You haven't fought me yet; you don't know what I'm like. For all you know, I could be ten times stronger than you." He looked her over. "Scratch that; I _am _ten times stronger than you!"

"Shut up!" She snapped, shooting forward. She aimed her spear at his calf and stabbed, but he managed to slip his leg out of the way and kick Echo on the back of the hand in an attempt to disarm her. It didn't work; she swallowed the pain and drew back her hand. _He's pretty good; way better than those little brats from last nights. If that dumbass Cypress had given me a chance with Mela Servitore, I could have kicked her scrawny little ass._

They circled each other again, weapons at the ready. This time James leapt forward. He slashed at Echo's face, but she brought the hilt of her spear around and blocked his blows, slamming into his arm. He didn't drop his weapon either, and he didn't draw back. He went for her stomach, and she danced backwards, barely avoiding his blow. She jumped at him and tried to stab him in the heart, but he caught her lunge on his blade and just managed to push her back.

Both of them were mad now, and both of them were sweating. _We're pretty much evenly matched, _Echo thought interestedly. _Okay, that makes things a little bit more dangerous. I'll have to be more careful._

James came at her again with his glittering weapon, slashing at the air directly in front of her face. _Oh, so he's going for my face, huh? Alright, I can live with that. _He stabbed his knife, trying to get it through her face, and she ducked, rolling under his arm. She aimed her spear at his side and stabbed, but he somehow managed to lift his leg and catch the blow with the sole of his boot. She shoved the spear and it slid through the sole. She could just imagine how painful it must have been to have a spearhead embedded in your sole, but James didn't make a sound. He yanked his foot off her spear, and Echo was delighted to see the bright red blood on the very tip of the weapon.

"Apparently you're not as strong as you thought you were!" She exclaimed happily, lunging at him and slashing just as he had been a moment ago. His hand shot up and he backed away, blocking blow after blow. _Damn, he's fast, _Echo thought, annoyed.

Both of them jumped as there was a soft sound. Echo looked down to see the girl from District Eight looking up at the two of them fighting. As Echo watched, she rolled onto her knees and started crawling towards the axe that was propped up against a tree. _I shouldn't let her get there, _Echo thought, and hurled her spear at the girl. The girl saw it coming and dropped to the ground, and it flew over her and embedded itself in the tree trunk. The girl snatched the handle of the axe and rose shakily to her feet, swinging it.

_The odds are clearly not in my favor, _Echo thought, and bolted. She could hear James shouting after her, but she ignored him. _I'm going to have to get them when they're not together, _she thought. _They're too dangerous otherwise._

Breathing lightly, she bent to the ground to increase her speed. She didn't hear the sounds of pursuit, but it was just possible that James would be hunting her down. She put on a burst of energy and gasped as she shot over a steep incline and tumbled down, head over heels, to the very bottom.

Sitting up, Echo looked to the top of the incline, but James didn't burst over it. Convinced that she was safe for the time being, Echo turned and looked at what was at the bottom of the incline. She couldn't help but whistle as she observed it.

It was a city; or more accurately, a ruined village. All the buildings were rotten, with broken windows and weeds growing through them. One or two even had tree roots wrapped around them, as though they'd been there forever, although Echo had a feeling that this had been created for the Capitol.

She grinned. _That seems like a good place to hole up for a while, _she thought, and started forward, only to stop as she realized that she could hear a low buzzing sound surrounding the village. She looked at the trees around it and groaned; there was a fat, papery nest to each tree that almost definitely held tracker jackers inside of it. She sighed. "Getting into that village just got a lot harder," she said, and set off in hopes of finding something she could burn.

* * *

><p><strong>No deaths this chapter; hooray! All I can say is that soon the deaths are going to be crazy, and there'll be a lot of them, so don't worry if that's what you like!<strong>

**TRIBUTE WATCH!**

**Soleil Nike Callwyn  
>Starting to climb the mountain with Lysemet, Dillon and Landon; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Landon Nodean  
>Starting to climb the mountain with Lysemet, Dillon and Soleil; uninjured<br>****Kills: None**

**Echo Garnett  
>Trying to get into the ruined village; slight painful hitch to breathing<br>Kills: Rorie Jameson (BB character)**

**Mela Servitore  
>Nearing the base of the mountain with Matt, Ameth and Saber; slashed shoulder<br>Kills: Cypress Lockhart**

**Rylla Stevens  
>Exploring the forest around the cave with Rosie, Fang and Garnet; stab wound in shoulder<br>Kills: None**

**Dillon Murphy  
>Starting up the mountain with Lysemet, Landon and Soleil; deep cut in ankle<br>****Kills: Qwiss Qwail (BB character)**

**Ameth Azeleck  
>Nearing the base of the mountain with Saber, Matt and Mela; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Matt Grove  
>Nearing the base of the mountain with Saber, Mela and Ameth; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow  
>Starting to climb the mountain with Soleil, Landon and Dillon; two mostly healed slits in back<br>Kills: Hu Phang (BB character)**

**Seren Alyona  
>In the cavern under the mountain with Merryn; a whip slash on the shoulder, a deeply cut lip, and a whip slash on the ankle<br>Kills: None**

**Saber Anderson  
>Nearing the base of the mountain with Mela, Matt and Ameth; stab wound in palm<br>Kills: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>In the forest close to the village with James; slightly sore ribs<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Merryn Enya Night  
>With Seren in the cavern under the mountain; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Garnet Painite  
>Exploring the forest near the cave with Rosie, Fang and Rylla; bruises on face and shallow cut on chest<br>Kills: None**

**Rosie Fullmoon  
>Exploring the forest near the cave with Rylla, Fang and Garnet; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**James Austin Mocking  
>In the forest close to the village with Arista; stab wound in the sole of the foot<br>****Kills: None**

**Fang  
>Exploring the forest near the cave with Rosie, Garnet and Rylla; uninjured<br>Kills: Blame Iemm (BB character)**

**That's all for this week; see you soon, and may the odds be ever in your favor! (Basically, I hope you don't randomly get reaped for the Hunger Games. So what if they don't exist! It could happen...)**


	12. It's Now or Never

**Hey guys! I'm back, and so is the story! It's only the first weekend, and already I have a ton of homework, so I'll pretty much definitely only be able to get one update out a week, probably on Sunday. I'm sorry; I love updating as much as you guys, and I think it sucks that I can't do it so much anymore! **

**There'a another death in this chapter, so hopefully that keeps you bloodthirsty beings sated! Enjoy, and review and tell me what you think! (100 reviews; I honestly can't believe it!)**

* * *

><p>In a few steps, Matt knew, they would make it to the mountain. They were in the copse in front of it right now, and he still wasn't exactly sure what had compelled them to return. But they'd seen Echo running into the valley, and both Saber and Ameth hadn't wanted to get anywhere near the vicious girl. That had ultimately led to Mela suggesting the mountain again. They didn't have anywhere else to go, so Matt had relented. Maybe this time, with such a big alliance, climbing the mountain wouldn't be so bad.<p>

Mela had spent a good portion of the night dealing with the wound in Saber's palm. Matt was amused to note that she'd been acting very motherly towards the younger tributes in their alliance, although she did her best to hide it. Matt felt strangely at home with the people he was allied with. _It's awful that at least 75 percent of us are going to have to die, and probably most of us will. I hate these Games._

"Hey Mela?" Saber asked, tugging on the girl's shirt. "I'm hungry."

"Alright," Mela said immediately. "Let's eat. That okay by you, Ameth?"

"Yeah," Ameth said, coming over and sitting down. Saber and Mela sat down as well, and Matt joined them. He wasn't really hungry either, but they'd gotten such a bounty at the Cornucopia he didn't see a reason why they shouldn't have lunch. It was actually already late afternoon, and lunch was probably in order.

Mela opened her pack, which was filled to the brim with loaves of bread, cheese, and a few precious pints of water they'd found among the packs. Solemnly, she ripped off some bread for each person and handed it to them, adding a little cheese on top. She tossed each person their pint of water, warning Ameth and Saber to ration it as best they could. And then she produced a treat, two shiny red apples, which she of course gave to Ameth and Saber. Matt looked at his bread and cheese and tried not to laugh. _She's so sweet; it's adorable._

For a while, the copse was filled with the sounds of chewing and young people enjoying themselves. Ameth and Saber finished in near seconds, and soon went to chasing each other around the glade. Mela soon put a stop to it. "This is the _Hunger Games_," she reminded them sternly, sitting them back down in their makeshift circle. "There'll be plenty of time to play when you win."

"Do you think one of us will win?" Saber asked, looking at her hopefully. Mela avoided his gaze.

"Of course," she said briskly. "Now let's see that hand."

By the time Mela was finished checking out Saber's hand and everyone had had some fun; namely skulking around the glade as quietly as they could and jumping out at each other, night had fallen, and Mela decided that climbing the mountain at night was a dumb idea. Matt had to agree, and Ameth suggested sleeping in a tree, which is exactly what they ended up doing. Mela wanted to let Ameth and Saber get their rest, and so Mela and Matt took turns watching the silent forest for any intruders. Matt was especially vigilant for Seren Alyona, the boy who had attacked Mela a few days ago, but if he was there, there was no sign of him.

With the morning came the resolve that the mountain had to be climbed. Matt was groggy from being woken up by Mela when the sky was still grey from lack of sunlight, but he had a feeling that today he'd wake up quickly. There was something about the mountain's forbidding peak that gave Matt the feeling soon he'd be wide awake.

They gathered in their copse for another meal. It felt like the last meal of the condemned to Matt, and he picked at his bread, not really hungry but knowing that he was going to have to eat something. He was going to need his energy to climb the mountain; the Gamemakers were guaranteed to have done something to it to make it difficult to get to the top.

They finished up fairly quickly, and got to their feet. Mela went first; leading the rest of the alliance towards the base of the mountain. Matt couldn't help himself; he looked up, towards the top, and was surprised to see four dots ambling about, headed towards the peak. They definitely weren't there yet, but they were getting close. "Look at that," he breathed, and jogged towards Mela. She had already stepped onto the white rocks at the mountain's base, and she turned at his approach.

"What is it?" She asked, brown eyes narrowed as though she knew all he was going to be able to tell her was bad news. "What do you see?"

"There's another alliance getting towards the top of the mountain," Matt reported. They had been walking as they talked, but now Mela stopped dead, right in front of a large gap in the rocks that could contain nearly anything; Matt didn't really feel like checking it out.

"Damn," Mela cursed, crossing her arms over her chest. She peered up at the peak as Saber and Ameth joined them and narrowed her eyes at the figures. "Who do you think they are?" She asked.

Matt shrugged. "They could be anyone," he said. "I'm actually pretty sure that's District One and the boy from Four up there, but I have no clue who the last person is."

Mela frowned and sat down next to the hole, tapping her foot. "I don't know if we should go up there anymore; it just got a lot more dangerous." Matt and Ameth sat down too, and Saber stood on his tiptoes, shading his eyes against the rising sun and pointing. "Look," he said. "One of them's moving away from the others."

Mela glanced up and so did Matt; one of them was wandering down the mountain in a scraggly line. The figure paused at what looked like an overhang, and Matt frowned as something ballooned out behind it; he couldn't tell what it was but it looked strangely familiar; as though he'd seen it on an animal before, but never a human. The figure stepped back from the overhang, and suddenly it threw itself forward.

All four of them gasped. "They jumped!" Mela exclaimed, horrified. There was a sick feeling in Matt's stomach, and he shook his head as the things on the figure's back stretched and contorted, and the figure turned and bore down on them until he recognized it as the girl from District Six.

"She didn't jump," he said. "She's flying!"

The world was frozen for a moment. The girl from Six had a wild grin on her face, and she was holding a bullwhip which she slashed in the general direction of everyone in Matt's alliance. He felt something hot across his face, and then pain exploded in his skull, throbbing and twisting. With a grunt, he staggered into Mela, and to his horror he felt both of them falling. He managed to grab Ameth by the arm, and the three of them fell into a gap in the rocks, leaving only Saber and the girl from Six outside.

Saber opened his mouth in a horrified cry and the girl crashed into him and knocked him over, a strangely sad look on her face. She narrowed her eyes at him, and Matt could see him struggling to get to his feet, but she had him pinned. She looped her whip around his neck and leapt up, pressing her foot against his chest. He whimpered, but she shook her head and yanked backwards in one jerky motion.

There was so much blood. It was gushing from the gash in Matt's face, to begin with, and now it rained down from the tear in Saber's neck. He was still alive, to Matt's horror, moving his limbs drunkenly. He tried to breathe in and gave a gasp as a bubble of blood popped in his throat. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, and he rolled over until his eyes were fixed on his three allies sheltered in the gap in the rocks. His expression didn't change, but his eyes dimmed and stopped moving.

Mela gasped and started to cry as they heard the cannon. The girl from Six stood over Saber's bloody corpse and looked down at it with a strange remorse on her face. Her front was stained with Saber's blood, but the huge feathery wings on her back looked as though they'd been stained with her own. Matt looked at them and saw that they protruded from two bloody slits in her back that looked intensely painful. As the three of them watched, she knelt beside Saber's body and lifted him by the neck into the air, pointing his face into the sky. "_Is this what you bastards want?_" She screamed, shaking him for emphasis. She took a deep breath, and Matt saw that she was trembling. "So many will die," she said weakly. "And it's your fault, you monsters. You Capitol _things _disgust me." A slow grin crossed her face, and she indicated her wings. "Who's the monster now?" She whispered, and dropped Saber to the ground.

Matt instinctively flinched back as she crossed over to the gap in the rocks. She looked at the three of them hungrily and raised her whip. _Is she trying to make us an example? _Matt thought. She made to slash the whip down, but turned suddenly, as though viewing something from far away. She looked back at them, and her wings exploded into action, churning the air and carrying her with astonishing speed away from the gap in the rocks.

Both Mela and Ameth were crying now. Dazedly, Matt slumped to the floor of the tiny space, hands twitching in his lap. Ameth made to move towards Saber's body, but Mela shook her head. "N-n-no," she sobbed, shaking her head for emphasis. "He's gone, Ameth. He's not coming back." She gave a choky breath and turned away from the body as a set of metal claws extended from the sky and encased the boy. They pulled him away, into the sky, until you never would've known that a boy had died there, except for the bloodstains on the white rocks.

Matt looked up with tearful eyes to see something behind Mela, something which looked like… He squinted, and cleared his throat huskily. "Guys," he said, and they both jumped. "There's something there," he said. "A tunnel. It's black, but we've got flashlights, right?"

Mela nodded slowly. "Right," she said, gently taking Ameth's hand. "Come on," she said softly. "He's in a… in a better place. Alright?"

"I miss him," Ameth whimpered, and Mela nodded.

"So do I," she said, tears drying on her cheeks. "But he wouldn't want us to sit here and wait for the girl who killed him to come back for us. He'd want us to keep moving forward." Mela's words weren't just lifting Ameth's spirits, they were lifting Matt's too, and probably Mela herself felt better by saying them. "Keep moving forward," she whispered, and her eyes went dark. "We have to. For him."

And she turned and shuffled into the little tunnel, and Matt and Ameth had no choice but to follow her.

* * *

><p>Soleil, sitting next to Landon, was cold.<p>

The farther you went up the mountain, the worse things got. At first it had been pleasantly cool, and then just cool, and then cold. And now Soleil was freezing, sitting around and waiting for Lysemet to come back. She and Landon were seated on a snow-covered rock a few feet away from the overhang Lysemet had leapt from, while Dillon was waving to the girl from the very edge. His ankle had been healing pretty nicely, Soleil was glad to note, and although he'd been the slowest of the group they were almost there. The peak was so close she could just taste it.

She and Landon had long ago decided to share body heat, and now they were snuggled together, arms wrapped around each other to ward off the cold. She was amused to see how happy being physically close to her made Landon. _I don't know, but I think he likes me. Like, a lot. This must be driving Zuko nuts right now. Well, I did volunteer for his little sister, and we broke up mutually, so there's no need for him to be jealous. But it's fairly obvious that he is._

She rested her cheek against Landon's warm chest and listened to his heartbeat. It was steady and warm against her, and she closed her eyes and sighed, sliding into the rhythm. She was conscious of Landon draping his arm across her shoulders, but she allowed it, not wanting to spoil the moment.

"Soleil?" Landon asked, his warm breath massaging her ear. "Do you mind if I kiss you?"

"Alright," she murmured sleepily. He lifted her up gently and softly touched his lips to her own. For a second, she stiffened, testing to see whether it felt alright, but she realized that Landon holding her felt almost as natural as Zuko holding her, and she relaxed into his embrace. _He makes me feel so safe, _she thought, pressing herself closer to him and hugging him tightly. _It's perfectly natural that we should love each other, I think._

He let her go and looked into her eyes. "I love you," he admitted bashfully, not dropping her gaze although she knew he wanted to.

She smiled slightly. "I know," she responded, resting her head against his chest once again. She stared out at the beautiful snowy arena and felt ice on her lips. "We can't both win," she sighed to the wind, half-smiling at Dillon's frantic attempts to get Lysemet's attention. He hadn't noticed a thing.

"I know," Landon said. "Why did you think I volunteered, anyway? I'm not here to win, Soleil," he said gently. "You must have known that."

She had known it, but hearing the words brought tears to her eyes. "You loved me for that long," she whispered, letting one tear roll down her cheek. He saw it and wiped it away.

"Yes," he murmured gently. "Please don't cry. It's not your fault I volunteered." He looked out at the world. "I love you, Soleil," he said again, "And I always have. I don't know exactly when it's going to happen, but I'm going to die soon. Please don't make my death in vain; win. You have to. If you… if you love me too, then you will."

Soleil looked into the selfless eyes of a boy who loved her and knew she couldn't disappoint him. "I'll win," she promised, two more tears dripping from her eyes. "And after I do, I'll make sure no one forgets the name of the boy who died so that I could live." She smiled; a ghost of a smile but a smile all the same. "If you have to leave me soon…" She whispered, playing with the hem of his jacket, "We'd better make up for the time we're going to miss." Landon seemed to take this as an invitation, and he grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her again, more fiercely than before, as if to make up for the time he wasn't going to have to be gentle with her. Soleil lost her balance and they tumbled into the snow, still pressed together.

There was the sound of labored flapping, and Landon and Soleil broke apart to see Lysemet landing on the overhang, giving them an odd look. She said nothing, but Soleil knew that she'd seen them. She looked from the two of them to Dillon and then at herself, and Soleil realized that she was… jealous. _Maybe she loves Dillon, _Soleil thought. _In a crazed, nutcase sort of way._

As if to prove Soleil's thoughts right, Lysemet threw her arms around the boy's neck. "Thanks," she said. "If you hadn't waved me back up here, I would've stayed and finished all of them. And I'm glad I didn't do that; it would have wasted them." She pulled away from Dillon and looked him in the eye seriously. "I have to do it one at a time," she explained. "Each one has to remind the Capitol how wrong they are. More than one at a time and it throws the whole thing off." She was different now, Soleil realized, more serious and strangely enough, more lucid.

Dillon smiled at her and patted her on the back. "Well, I'm glad I waved you back too," he said. "I was afraid that the three of them might be able to overpower you." Lysemet snorted, as though the idea were amusing to her. Her back shuddered, and the wings retracted, leaving only the bloody, almost-healed slits in their wake. They looked awfully painful to Soleil, but apparently they didn't bother Lysemet so much.

"We should keep on moving," Soleil said, and the two of them jumped guiltily, as though they'd forgotten their other allies already. The idea was fine with Soleil. _As soon as we make it to the base of the mountain Landon and I are out, _she thought, _so it's great if they can forget we're here so easily._

Soleil picked herself up off the ground, Landon following suit. She sighed and looked up at the mountain's peak. In truth it wasn't much of a peak; the mountain had a flat top surrounded by puffy white clouds in which anything could be hiding. The four of them had already had a particularly nasty run-in with a couple of ram mutts, and Landon had barely made it out of the encounter with his stomach intact and not stabbed through by a ram horn.

Soleil started out, trusting the others to follow her. She could hear the crunching of snow beneath their boots and smiled to herself; they followed her everywhere. Landon only did it to protect her, but she could tell the other two looked up to her as their leader, Lysemet included. She felt a pang of shame in her designs to leave them behind, but Lysemet was too dangerous of an ally to work with. She could turn on them at any second, and Soleil wasn't too happy with entrusting her life to a psycho.

They were close now, so close. The peak was a few feet above Soleil, and she paused and looked back at her companions for a moment. Landon was already at her side, unsurprisingly, and it looked as though Lysemet were actually helping Dillon up the steeper slope. Soleil couldn't help being surprised, and very nearly smiled at the sight of Lysemet half-dragging a barely-resisting Dillon up the slope behind her.

She waited until their little group was assembled before taking a deep breath. "Okay," she said. "This is it. We've been waiting for this moment; we're here at the peak." Lysemet, Dillon and Landon all stared at her solemnly. "Let's go," she said, turning and taking the final steps to the very top of the mountain.

The first thing she realized was that everything was white. The puffy clouds surrounding the place gave it an almost ethereal quality, and the powdery snow all over the ground only added to the effect. The peak of the mountain was fairly large; it stretched off for a couple of hundred meters in every direction. And it was completely and utterly empty.

Soleil couldn't help herself; she sank to her knees in frustration. "Damn it," she growled, picking up a handful of snow and hurling it as far as she could. "All that way for nothing!"

Lysemet shook her head. Her huge eyes were fixed on the snow in front of Soleil. "There's something up here," she whispered. "I can hear it. Can't you?"

Slowly, wind howling around her ears, Soleil got to her feet and looked at Lysemet. "No," she said calmly. "What do you hear?"

Lysemet shrugged uncomfortably. "Not much," she admitted. "But there's movement under the snow in different places. It's like it's a minefield up here, and I have a feeling if you step on any of the traps they'll go off."

"What are they?" Soleil asked. "Bombs? Mutts?"

Lysemet shrugged again. "I don't know," she said, and looked behind her shoulder. A grin suddenly appeared on her face. "Tricky bastards," she said. "Always looking for a good show."

Soleil was about to ask her what exactly she meant, when she froze, ice trickling down her spine. From behind Lysemet came what looked to be a massive pale white worm. It lifted what was probably its head, and a hissing sound came from the air around it. Soleil swallowed. _Nice; they put a mutt behind us so we have to go forward and Lysemet won't have time to listen for the traps because we'll be too busy fighting. Clever._

She reached for her twin swords, Landon doing the same with his bow and arrows and Dillon going for his knife. Lysemet just stared at the creature, and it appeared to be staring at her. "I'll have fun ending you," she said, and the creature hissed again.

Soleil hefted a sword easily and pointed it at the creature. "Let the Games begin," she ordered, and all four of them attacked.

* * *

><p>Rosie was the first to notice that something was wrong.<p>

Rylla and Fang were talking away behind Rosie; in fact only she and Garnet were really paying attention to the forest. Rosie was surprised to note that Garnet Painite actually wasn't a half-bad ally. Garnet was annoying and sarcastic, but she was also pretty nice to Rosie, and even her teasing of Rylla and Fang's kiss was pretty good-natured. _It's like the arena's changing her into a better person, _Rosie thought. _Weird._

She, Garnet, Fang and Rylla were heading back towards the cave; they'd spent all morning hunting for something to do again, but there was nothing. Apparently they were in a very secluded spot in the valley, which gave Rosie a bad feeling. _How much longer until we get flushed out by the Gamemakers? _She thought unhappily. _Nothing's happened to us so far, and that's boring. Soon they're going to do something, and it's not gonna be good._

She sighed as they made it back to the cave, and once again, nothing had changed. _What are the Gamemakers waiting for? There has to be something wrong… Right? _She blinked as she what looked like a particularly fat grooseling come waddling out of the underbrush. "Dinner," she sighed, raising her spear. Before she let it fly, though, the grooseling stepped directly in front of their cave. There was a major wind gust, and Rosie gasped as she fell to her knees, even from such a distance. When she looked back up, the grooseling was gone, and she realized with a growing horror that its skin and muscle had all been stripped by the wind. As she watched, another gust slammed into a tree a few feet away from her. Bark was torn from the tree's surface, and it groaned and began to crash to the ground.

Rosie didn't waste any time. "Run!" She cried; turning and crashing through the underbrush. Garnet saw the wind and followed Rosie, and they broke through Fang and Rylla, who followed them unquestioningly. Rosie pumped her legs, but Rylla was already overtaking her, as was Fang. She gasped and panted, trying to run faster, and to her surprise Garnet snatched her hand.

"Come on!" Garnet screamed, over the roar of the wind. Rosie turned and saw that it was directly behind them, tearing into a grove of trees and reducing it to near-splinters in seconds. Garnet saw it too and began to run, pulling Rosie along behind her. The wind howled and moaned, blasting into a tree directly next to Rosie. She gasped as the very edge of the wind blast scraped along her arm, ripping away a portion of her dark skin. Blood leaked down her arm and she gasped in pain. Garnet crashed forward, practically dragging Rosie behind her now; Fang and Rylla were a few meters ahead and getting farther away every passing minute.

"Let me go!" Rosie exclaimed. "You won't be able to outrun it with me!"

"Shut up," Garnet said, and began to run faster than before. The wind howled and Garnet jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a blast that would have put them out of their misery once and for all. "I'm not going to leave you."

Rosie stared at her, huge eyes admiring and grateful. "Thank you…" She whispered, and screamed as a tree exploded behind them, knocking her to her feet. She was still holding Garnet's hand, and both of them fell into the grass. Dazedly, Rosie looked up and waited for the wind to finish her.

She waited for about five minutes before she realized that the Gamemakers had no interest in ending her, at least not today. That could only mean one thing: there was something just as dangerous as the wind in these woods, and she was probably going to encounter it soon. She got to her feet and called out to Rylla and Fang, calling them back. Garnet sat up too; she'd gotten a small gash over her right eyebrow from running away from the wind, but otherwise she was okay. Rosie slapped a hand to the chunk of missing flesh in her arm and tried not to scream as warm blood gushed over her fingers.

Rylla jogged up to them, blonde hair disarrayed and sweaty. "We made it," she said simply. "That's a relief." Fang came up behind her, and all four of them looked at the woods around them, waiting for something to pop out. Nothing did.

"We should do something," Rosie said. "If we go back the way we came, the Gamemakers will kill us for sure. There must be something important here that we were meant to find."

Rylla shrugged. "Okay," she said. "Somebody pick a direction."

"Left," Garnet said immediately. "That's where the Gamemakers want us to go. Listen." Rosie closed her eyes, and she could hear it immediately: there was the buzzing sound she recognized as tracker jackers coming faintly from the left.

Rylla shrugged again. "Left it is," she said, turning in the direction of the buzzing. "And nobody get too close to any of the nests, or they'll sting us to death." Fang, Rosie, and Garnet nodded, following Rylla. They hadn't walked for very long when the forest thinned out and revealed exactly what Rosie had been expecting to see: a ring of tracker jacker nests. She obviously hadn't expected to see the ruined village within them, but the nests she'd been expecting.

Rylla rubbed her hands together. "Alright," she said. "It's obvious that we're supposed to go inside that village, but if we get too close to the tracker jackers they'll kill us. Anybody have any suggestions?" Nobody said anything. Rylla frowned. "Well, we can't just stand here forever."

"There's nothing else for us to do," Rosie said pessimistically. "We can't get in there. We might as well just take our chances with the wind."

"What chances?" Garnet asked, punching Rosie lightly on her non-injured arm. "I barely saved your sorry ass back there, remember?" Rosie grinned slightly.

"Well, maybe we could- what's the matter?" Fang was frowning, and as she watched he took a deep breath and his frown grew more pronounced. Hee turned to look at the nests, and Rosie was surprised to see that the mutts looked more drowsy than usual. "What's going on?" She asked worriedly.

Fang looked at her curiously. "Don't you smell it?" He asked. "Smoke." Realization hit Rosie, and dimly, in the background, she thought she could hear the sound of crackling flame. She blanched, and Rylla grinned.

"It's now or never," the girl exclaimed, jogging towards the village. "Let's run." She turned completely and bolted towards the buildings, and Rosie found her feet turning her towards the village and running too. She could only hope that the tracker jackers wouldn't recover before she got there.

* * *

><p><strong>I'M SO SORRY, MAYSILEE SURVIVED!<strong>

**I loved Saber; he was seriously one of my favorite characters. I didn't want to kill him but I needed some good deaths, so... But you've still got Echo, and we both know she won't go down without a fight...**

**TRIBUTE WATCH!**

**Soleil Nike Callwyn  
>At the trapfield at the peak of the mountain; fighting a worm mutt with Lysemet, Dillon and Landon; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Landon Nodean  
>At the trapfield at the peak of the mountain; fighting a worm mutt with Lysemet, Dillon and Soleil; uninjured<br>****Kills: None**

**Echo Garnett  
>Running into the ruined village; slight painful hitch to breathing<br>Kills: Rorie Jameson (BB character)**

**Mela Servitore  
>Heading into the cavern under the mountain with Matt and Ameth; slashed shoulder<br>Kills: Cypress Lockhart**

**Rylla Stevens  
>Running into the ruined village with Rosie, Fang and Garnet; stab wound in shoulder<br>Kills: None**

**Dillon Murphy  
>At the trapfield at the peak of the mountain; fighting a worm mutt with Lysemet, Landon and Soleil; half-healed cut in ankle<br>****Kills: Qwiss Qwail (BB character)**

**Ameth Azeleck  
>Heading into the cavern under the mountain with Matt and Mela; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Matt Grove  
>Heading into the cavern under the mountain with Mela and Ameth; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow  
>At the trapfield at the peak of the mountain; fighting a worm mutt with Soleil, Landon and Dillon; two mostly healed slits in back<br>Kills: Hu Phang (BB character); Saber Anderson**

**Seren Alyona  
>In the cavern under the mountain with Merryn; a deeply cut lip, mostly healed<br>Kills: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>In the forest close to the village with James; slightly sore ribs<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Merryn Enya Night  
>With Seren in the cavern under the mountain; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Garnet Painite  
>Running into the ruined village with Rosie, Fang and Rylla; gash over right eyebrow<br>Kills: None**

**Rosie Fullmoon  
>Running into the ruined village with Rylla, Fang and Garnet; strip of flesh missing from arm<br>Kills: None**

**James Austin Mocking  
>In the forest close to the village with Arista; stab wound in the sole of the foot<br>****Kills: None**

**Fang  
>Running into the ruined village with Rosie, Garnet and Rylla; uninjured<br>Kills: Blame Iemm (BB character)**

**That's all, and see you next week for the next update!**


	13. Cute Leech Mutts and Gross Dead Unicorns

**Hey guys! It's Sunday, and you know what that means!**

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**...**

**...**

**STORY DAY! 'ELNCOPINECVPION3RPIV'P3NV'PI3NRV'PNIOR YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!**

**Okay, my utter ecstasy aside, here's a random interesting thing I wondered if any of you noticed: Merryn and Seren's names rhyme. That wasn't the ONLY reason I gave them an alliance, but come on... How could I resist?**

**Also, if you like Fullmetal Alchemist, check out my newest story, _Bonds of the Heart. _It's about a murderess named Aelia and how she's trying to reform herself, and it's EnvyxOC... Here's the link: .net/s/7388959/1/Bonds_of_the_Heart**

**Okay, enough of me. Let's get on with the story already!**

* * *

><p>Seren Alyona was beginning to feel strangely safe in the dark.<p>

Of course, it totally sucked that he couldn't see anything, but with Merryn acting as his eyes he didn't really need to. The two of them had been surviving on meager supplies for the past few days, but they'd been surviving, and that was what was important. Seren had never felt so hollow before, but it was alright, he could manage. Things could be a lot worse. He could be dead, for example. But now he was here, in this cavern, with only a large lake-full of mutt fish to bother him, and he had to admit that he was doing a lot better in the Games than he'd expected.

"It's me," Merryn said, close to his ear, and Seren jumped. He'd been trying to rid himself of the habit, but he was still shocked whenever she spoke to him from the dark. She was light on her feet, and it was always difficult to discern whether she was there or not. Seren had been able to distinguish blocky shapes in the swimming blackness that he was used to by now, but Merryn was another matter. She moved like a ghost and made as much noise as one, too, and it was always scary when she popped out at him like that.

"Hey," he said, leaning against the cool smooth surface of a stalagmite. "Did you find anything?"

"Not much," Merryn admitted, and he felt her pressing something soft and moist in his palm. "Only the moss again, Seren, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Seren said, forcing himself to flash a grateful smile in the direction of her voice. "It's great of you to get food for me; we both know I can't get it myself." They both laughed, remembering an incident where Seren, dead-set on helping Merryn hunt for supplies, had scraped up some handfuls of what he'd assumed had been moss but what Merryn identified as bat crap. He'd been annoyed, to say the least, but thinking back on it, it was pretty funny.

Seren brought the handful of moss to his lips and opened them, wincing slightly as a small flash of pain traveled up his lip. Even now, the split one throbbed whenever he opened his mouth too wide. _Stupid Lysemet, _he thought, annoyed, sliding the moss over his throbbing lip and between his teeth. The flavor wasn't unbearable but it wasn't pleasant, either. Seren chewed slowly, feeling the strange-tasting moisture ooze over his tongue. He recognized it and knew that it wasn't poisonous, and they'd been eating it for a while, but he still felt wary every time he tasted it.

It was tough to get through and it took him a while to swallow. He wasn't close to feeling full, but he hadn't really felt full ever since he'd started the Games. _We probably have more food than some tributes do, _he thought grimly. _I should be thankful._

"How's your lip feeling, Seren?" Merryn asked him, interrupting his thoughts. His head swung around in the direction of her voice, and he shrugged.

"Not amazing, but definitely better. Thanks, Merryn," he said, and he felt her settling next to him.

"How about your eyes?" She asked. "Are they still hurting?"

"Not really," he said. For a while, his eyes had throbbed as they'd gotten accustomed to the dark, but now he felt as though he'd gotten used to being blind.

"That's good," she sighed, and then her head was leaning against his shoulder. "I'm so tired," she yawned, and Seren knew she meant that she was tired of the Games, not just in general.

He slipped an arm around her. "We'll make it Merryn," he promised, although he was just as tired as she was. "We'll make it together; don't you worry."

"We will," she agreed sleepily, and suddenly went rigid next to him. "Holy crap!" She hissed, and he felt her moving away.

"What? Merryn?" He whispered, and he felt her snatch his hand.

"Be quiet," she ordered him softly. "There are some other tributes heading over here."

"How many?" He asked.

"Three," she said. "It's Matt, Mela and Matt's district partner."

"Oh…" Seren said. His gaze darted erratically and settled on the beams of light he saw coming from a good ways off; apparently their alliance had flashlights. He and Merryn immediately slipped behind the stalagmite, Merryn still peering around its base to watch the other tributes. For a few minutes they were completely silent, listening to the three tributes talking in hushed voices about where to go and how to find their way in the dark.

Seren heard Merryn give a tiny gasp, and suddenly her lips were brushing against his ear. "Matt Grove's playing with a Mutticator," she whispered to him. "We have to have it; he probably doesn't even know what it does."

"A Mutticator?"

"It's this little metal thing that looks like an egg, but it gives you the ability to become the master of _one _mutt that you encounter. Probably it's programmed to only give you control of the more pathetic mutts, but that's still an amazing find." She paused for a moment, letting the information sink in. "I'm going to get it."

"What? _No_," Seren hissed, horrified. "There are three of them, and only two of us, and we're both small."

"I've got a plan," Merryn exclaimed impatiently. "He won't catch me, Seren."

"Don't do it, Merryn," the boy begged. "It's not worth the risk."

"I'll be back before you know it," she whispered, and he felt her presence move away. _No, Merryn! _He wanted to scream, but that would put his friend in even more danger than she was already in. He would just have to wait and see what would happen. Wait and- _Oh crap, _Seren thought. _I won't even be able to see this battle. I'll just have to wait it out. _His heart throbbed. _Please be okay, Merryn. Please._

* * *

><p>Merryn knew exactly what she was doing.<p>

She could see Matt now; and the rest of the alliance, but they couldn't see her. That was going to be essential to her plan.

She crawled towards them on the heels of her hands and her toes like a large, creepy spider before stopping a few feet behind the alliance. They walked ignorantly on, their flashlights crisscrossing the darkness ahead of them, but not behind them. Merryn glanced around and saw a hunched boulder that would do nicely; she slipped behind it and moved her head until all that was showing was her luminous eyes. And then she roared.

Merryn knew what mutts sounded like, and she wasn't a bad mimic. She was gratified to see that as soon as her leonine snarl shattered the quiet of the cavern the alliance broke into chaos. The girl from District Five was the first to bolt, and Mela gasped. "Ameth, come back!" She yelled, hurrying after the girl and dropping her flashlight. It thudded against the hard ground and went dark. "_Follow me, Matt!_" Mela screamed, heading into the distance. Matt started to run, but Merryn leapt at him from behind and tackled him, slamming him roughly into the ground.

He writhed underneath her and his elbow smacked into her chin, sending her reeling away from him. His torso stretched off the ground, but she shrieked and slammed his face into the cavern floor by leaning heavily on it, panting with exertion. He gave a muffled cry and tried to kick her off, and she was tossed into the air, still holding onto his head. She clutched him until her fingers went numb; she hadn't exactly thought this through.

"Get off me!" Matt roared, and Merryn clamped a hand over his mouth, looking up sharply to see if anyone had heard. Nobody came; Mela and the girl from Five were long gone.

While she was looking up, Matt rolled, and suddenly he was on top of her. He groped for his pocket, and Merryn wriggled out from under him as she spotted the knife. _The Capitol must love this, _she thought. She immediately pounced on his chest, pummeling him with her fists. His head snapped back, covered in blood, but he reached out and snatched her wrists, immobilizing her.

That didn't stop Merryn for long. She kneed him in the groin as hard as she could, and as he groaned she snatched the knife from his pocket and bared the blade. He grabbed her leg as though he knew what was about to happen, but it was too late, because Merryn Enya Night had already stabbed his own knife deep into his forehead.

He looked like a grisly unicorn, staring at her with an expression of shock on his face and the hilt of the knife sticking out of his head. Then his head slipped back and his cannon fired, and Merryn got off him and spotted the Mutticator lying on the floor. She picked it up and slipped it in her pocket; it would only work when a mutt was nearby and Merryn had no intention of wasting the thing on a fish mutt.

"I'm alive," she called out softly, and heard Seren's huff of relief. "And Matt's dead," she added, an afterthought.

"Did you get the… the thing?"

"Yeah," she said, rounding the stalactite and sitting down next to her friend. "I got it."

"I was so worried," Seren admitted, hugging her hard. She hugged him back and smiled; glad he couldn't see the faint blush that colored her cheeks.

Matt had been her first kill, and he'd taught Merryn an important lesson: that she was a dangerous player in these Games after all.

* * *

><p>James winced as he put too much pressure on his foot and a flash of searing pain traveled up his leg. <em>I never thought I'd ever stoop this low, but I really hate Echo right now. I hate a girl! What's happening to me? <em>

Arista stepped up behind him, the shaft of her axe in her hand. She twirled the axe for a moment before sighing and hurling it at the nearest tree. It buried itself head-first in the wood, and she retrieved it, resting it in the ground.

"What now?" She asked, avoiding his gaze. Honestly, James was impressed. Before she'd been too suspicious of him to even talk to him; this was certainly an improvement.

"I don't know," he admitted, "but I think we should follow Echo."

"Yeah," Arista agreed. "Finish her off before she gets too far away." She began trudging in the general direction Echo had gone, and looked back at him. "You coming?"

"Yeah," James said, not about to tell her that he'd been admiring the fluid way the muscles in her legs moved when she walked. Arista was one of the most beautiful girls in the Games, in his opinion; it was a good thing he'd found her and the boar mutt after all.

Arista began to jog, and James followed. She was a fast runner, even if he'd only just fixed her ribs, and soon she was getting farther and farther ahead. James didn't mind; it was obvious that Arista was a tough person to deal with, and if anyone jumped her they'd most likely end up regretting it.

Arista stopped short suddenly, and James jogged up behind her and whistled. "A little village, huh?" He asked. "Well, I suppose that's interesting."

"I'll bet you anything this is where Echo went," Arista said.

James cocked an eyebrow. "Anything, huh? What exactly do you mean by 'anything'?"

To his surprise, a rosy blush colored her cheeks. "Go to hell, Mocking," she said, jogging towards the village. James wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that if a girl blushed and then told you to go to hell, she was into you.

There was a small cliff that led to the village, and Arista and James slid down. When they made it to the bottom, James realized two things: the village was bigger than it had appeared from above, and there was a very, very large fire in the underbrush to his right. The two of them stared at it for a minute, jaws hanging open.

James swallowed. "Would you like to run?" He asked chivalrously. The fire crept closer; he could feel the heat on his face and took a step back.

"No," Arista said sarcastically. "I wouldn't."

"Oh," James said. "Alright, we'll just stand here." The fire was feet away.

"I was being sarcastic, you idiot!" Arista moaned, snatching his hand and pulling him in the direction of the village. James grinned. _And that's one point for Mocking, _he thought.

He looked up and blinked at the sight of the swollen tracker jacker nests hanging from the trees. It didn't look as though the mutts were out and about, which was good; he had a feeling they were programmed to attack anyone who tried to make it into the village. Of course, all this smoke was probably making them drowsy. A tribute had probably set this fire, which meant there was at least one other person in the village and it was probably Echo.

Arista and James shot underneath the tracker jacker nests, but only one bug came out to greet them and it kept its distance, fat golden body hovering in the air above their heads. With the absence of the fire came a blessed cool and James sighed, wiping away a bead of sweat with his free hand. Arista still hadn't released him, gratifyingly enough, and he caught up to her, squeezing her hand.

She immediately dropped it, of course. _Ah well, _James thought. _She'll come around eventually, I know she will. _He peered at their surroundings. Right now they were in a street overflowing with grass. On either side of them was a row of short buildings, most of which had broken windows and were dark. "Do you think there are any supplies in here?" James asked, indicating one of the buildings. "Because I'm really thirsty."

James shrugged. "There might be," he said. "Let's find out." Arista went to the door and rolled her eyes as the knob didn't turn.

"Locked," she said, slamming her axe into the door. James had to admire her for a moment, swinging the axe, the way her muscles rippled and her beautiful long hair flowed…

"James! Quit staring at my ass and help me get this door open!"

_I was looking at the small of your back, _he wanted to protest, but decided against it. He walked to Arista and pointed at the knob. "Aim there," he said, and in one quick slash the knob was embedded in the ground. James pushed against the door and it squeaked open; it hadn't been built to withstand Arista with an axe.

It was dark inside the small house, but with the door open everything in the place was visible. There was a small table in one corner of the house, completely bare. A bed was in another corner, also empty. James spotted the pantry on the wall and strode over to it, opening the cupboard. He grinned as he spotted rows upon rows of tins and things, but was disappointed, as most of them turned out to be spices. There was a jar of honey he figured they could eat if all else failed, but that was it.

"Let's go," he said, going back to Arista. She nodded in agreement and stepped out of the building.

"We need water," she said as James joined her in the sunlight. "I've heard about places like; the water's usually in a well in the center of town."

"A well, huh?" James said. "I guess we could try it." Without another word the two of them began to walk up the grassy avenue, heading in what they supposed was the direction of the well. Their need wasn't dire; James could definitely go for a few more days without water and he had a feeling that Arista could as well, but it would be nice to know that they had a resource that they could use.

They stepped out of the street and into a little circular plaza. The houses surrounded the plaza, except for a few entrances and exits, and in the center was a well, just as Arista had predicted. The two of them crossed over to it and peered down into the blackness. There was a rope stretched down, but they didn't know whether or not there was even a bucket attached to it.

"Let's reel it up," Arista suggested, and James began to reel. Whatever it was, it was heavy, so it was probably a bucket filled with water. At least, he hoped so. He yanked on the rope and tugged, and Arista stared down into the well, waiting for their prize to be revealed.

When he heard Arista's annoyed exclamation, he knew whatever he'd retrieved hadn't been water. "Oh, gross," she said, and he tied the bucket off so it wouldn't fall before going over to take a look at it himself.

The bucket was filled to the brim with squirming black leech mutts, tumbling over themselves and baring tiny little teeth. He poked one with a finger; it was squishy, slimy and soft, and a film of ooze came off on his finger as he pulled it away. All the little mutts crawled over to investigate and he teased them, letting them get close to his finger before pulling it away and leaving them disappointed. "They're kind of cute," he said, and Arista wrinkled her nose.

"They are so not cute," she said, picking one up by the tail. It wriggled, trying to get close enough to her finger to latch on and draw blood, but she shook it gently and it stopped.

"You think they're cute; come on, just admit it."

"They are not!"

"Ariiistaaaa…"

"Okay, they're cute!" She exclaimed, laughing. "You are so lucky I didn't throw this little guy in your face right now!"

"But that would've hurt him!" James exclaimed in mock horror. "How could you even consider such a thing?"

She rolled her eyes, still grinning. "You are such a weirdo, James," she laughed, and froze suddenly as there was the quiet snap of a twig breaking.

James turned around quickly and nearly groaned at the sight of four tributes behind him, arms crossed over their chests. His knife was out before any of them had a chance to move.

Arista whipped around and saw the tributes. The girl from District Ten was already pounding towards them with a knife in her hand, and James let out a startled cry as Arista wind milled her arm and hurled the leech mutt directly at the girl's face.

There was a scream, and James watched in horrified fascination as the little mutt latched onto the girl's left eye and began to burrow. She dropped her knife and swatted at it, snatching at its slime-coated body. She managed to grasp it and wrenched it loose, pulling out not only the mutt but her left eye as well. For a moment, there was dead silence in the plaza as everyone stared at the pulpy mess of the eye and the squashed mutt in the girl's hand. She squeezed her hand shut, and blood and squashed mutt trailed down her wrist. Slowly, she knelt and retrieved her knife. "I…" She said softly, "_am going to kill you!_"

She lunged for Arista but James jumped in front of her. "Hell no," he said easily, parrying her attacks with his blade. "Nobody attacks Arista like that."

The girl simply gave an animalistic screech and pressed James back, forcing him uncomfortably close to the bucket of leeches. On impulse, he turned and slashed the rope attaching the bucket to the well before grabbing it by the handles and attempting to dump the whole bucket on the girl from District Ten. She managed to avoid the brunt of the attack though, only getting three or four leeches stuck to her arm. She ignored them and continued to fight James.

He sighed as the big guy from Twelve leapt into the attack. He had on some sort of weird glove with claws that he slashed at James' face. James ducked neatly and the guy from Twelve rocked forward. James hit him hard in the stomach with the hilt of his knife and he stumbled back in time for the girl from Ten to slash at him with her knife. There was a flash of pain along the side of his face and he hissed as the girl loomed over him to finish him. There was only one way to freak her out enough to stop her, he realized, and before he knew what he was doing he'd groped the girl from Ten.

Just as he'd expected, she stopped dead, giving him enough time to push her over and scramble away from the guy from Twelve. Warm wet blood ran down the side of James' face, and he groaned as he stumbled over the girl from Ten and fell to his knees. The guy from Twelve didn't give him any time; he kicked James hard in the stomach and James gasped as all the air ran out of his lungs. The guy from Twelve slashed James hard across the face with the gloves, cutting shallow parallel gashes across his face that was definitely going to scar.

"Shit," he muttered, jumping up and stumbling back. He grimaced as he walked into someone, and blinked as he looked over his shoulder into the dark eyes of his own district partner, Rosie Fullmoon. Her face was hard, and he realized that she'd been fighting Arista from the deep bloody gash in her shoulder. It looked as though Arista had gone halfway to chopping the limb off completely, but something, namely the girl from Four, had stopped her before she could finish. Arista and the girl were now duking it out, Arista slashing with her axe and the girl from Four trying to brain Arista over the head with a wooden bowl. James shook his head, trying to clear it of the blood and the strange situation, when he heard Arista shout.

"Watch out for Rosie; the tip of her spear's got poison on it!" Even as Arista said it, Rosie lifted her spear and tried to stab him in the gut, but he sidestepped and grabbed the shaft from the one hand that was still working. A brief tug-of-war ensued, which was ended when James felt a tap on his shoulder and turned just in time for the girl from Ten to punch him in the face as hard as she could. He fell onto his back and Rosie stabbed downwards with the spear, but he rolled aside just in time and the tip buried itself in the dirt.

The girl from Ten kicked him in the stomach and crouched down, grabbing his hair and baring his throat. Her mutilated eye dribbled blood onto his cheek, and he thrashed away from her, but she caught him again. Her knife was pressed against his bare throat, ready to pull, when there was a shriek from Arista and she leapt on the girl from Ten, clawing at her viciously. They tumbled together, shrieking and clawing, and suddenly James got a horrific sense of foreboding. Before he could put words to it, Garnet and Arista rolled into Rosie's discarded spear and one side of the blade gently brushed against Arista's arm.

She kept on rolling for a minute, but she slowly stopped and began to pant. The girl from Ten took advantage of the opportunity, scrabbling for her knife, but James snatched it first and scooped up Arista. _This must be some bad poison, _he thought, staring down at the four tributes glaring at him. He grinned wryly. "Sorry, everybody," he said, "But I'm afraid this little party will have to be cut short for now." He turned and took off, running as fast as he could with a limp Arista in his arms. Froth was gathering at the corners of her mouth, but her eyes were still open and she appeared to still be lucid. "Arista, Arista, can you hear me?" He yelled. Her eyes swam up to meet his lazily.

"James," she murmured. "James… You need drapeweed." She coughed and shuddered. "_I _need drapeweed…" Her eyes flickered shut, and he cried out, but she was still breathing. Her already pale face had gotten paler, and she was covered with a thin sheen of sweat.

"Don't die, Arista," he begged, still running. He could hear the sounds of pursuit after them, and turned abruptly, slamming into one of the doors. To his immediate relief, this one swung open at his touch, and he burst inside. He tossed Arista unceremoniously on the floor and snatched the first thing in the room, a table, pushing it against the door just as he heard an angry thump. The bed was next, and then he tipped over a heavy cabinet against the top part of the door as Rosie's spear broke through. She peered in and spotted him, and he gave her a cheery wave.

And then the girl from Ten was glaring at him through the tiny hole. She laughed, seeing his barricade. "So you want to stay in there? Fine, but we'll be back later, and trust me, we'll get in."

James winked. "But will I still be in here? That's really the question." To his surprise, the girl grinned.

"I like you," she said. "If it weren't for these stupid Games, I might even offer you an alliance, but as it is I don't need one. I'm Garnet, by the way."

"James," he said conversationally.

"Well, see you in a bit, James," she said. "And sorry in advance for when we kill you."

"_If_ you kill me," he reminded her, but another girl's face took her place.

"No," the other girl said. "When. We'll be back, James." This was the girl from District Four, he realized, and she didn't sound too happy about killing him either. Then the faces vanished, and he was left alone in the dark with his own fear and the sound of Arista slowly dying.

He knelt down beside her and took one of her clammy hands in his own. "I'll get you some drapeweed," he promised her. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be okay."

If only that were true.

* * *

><p><strong>First off, a big ole apology to NightShades Cursed Legacy for offing Matt. And also to anyone who liked him. He was quite popular...<strong>

**ONWARDS, TO TRIBUTE WATCH!**

**Soleil Nike Callwyn  
>At the trapfield at the peak of the mountain; fighting a worm mutt with Lysemet, Dillon and Landon; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Landon Nodean  
>At the trapfield at the peak of the mountain; fighting a worm mutt with Lysemet, Dillon and Soleil; uninjured<br>****Kills: None**

**Echo Garnett  
>Hiding in the ruined village; slight painful hitch to breathing<br>Kills: Rorie Jameson (BB character)**

**Mela Servitore  
>Wandering in one of the tunnels under the mountain; slashed shoulder<br>Kills: Cypress Lockhart**

**Rylla Stevens  
>Going back to the center of the village with Rosie and Garnet; stab wound in shoulder<br>Kills: None**

**Dillon Murphy  
>At the trapfield at the peak of the mountain; fighting a worm mutt with Lysemet, Landon and Soleil; half-healed cut in ankle<br>****Kills: Qwiss Qwail (BB character)**

**Ameth Azeleck  
>Wandering in one of the tunnels under the mountain; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow  
>At the trapfield at the peak of the mountain; fighting a worm mutt with Soleil, Landon and Dillon; two mostly healed slits in back<br>Kills: Hu Phang (BB character); Saber Anderson**

**Seren Alyona  
>Leaving the cavern under the mountain with Merryn; a deeply cut lip, mostly healed<br>Kills: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>Barricaded in a house in the village with James; poisoned<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Merryn Enya Night  
>Leaving the cavern under the mountain with Seren; uninjured<br>Kills: Matt Grove**

**Garnet Painite  
>Going back to the center of the village with Rosie and Rylla; gash over right eyebrow, missing left eye<br>Kills: None**

**Rosie Fullmoon  
>Going back to the center of the village with Rylla and Garnet; strip of flesh missing from arm, same arm halfway cut through<br>Kills: None**

**James Austin Mocking  
>Barricaded in a house in the village with Arista; stab wound in the sole of the foot, five slashes across face and one on the side of the head<br>****Kills: None**

**Fang  
>Standing guard outside the house James and Arista are in; uninjured<br>Kills: Blame Iemm (BB character)**

**Well, that's all for now, folks. Have a good day, and I hope you enjoyed!**


	14. Mission Accomplished

**I forgot to do my introduction...**

**And Tribute Watch...**

***sigh**

**If you're reading this now and wondering what the heck I mean, I posted this chapter without adding an intro and Tribute Watch! And now I'm rushing to get it all done! So let me just go to the bottom...**

* * *

><p>Echo had recently begun to like the way things were turning out for her.<p>

James and the girl from Eight, her two greatest enemies, at the moment, were sitting around in an abandoned house with only one boy guarding them. He looked tough, but Echo didn't plan on fighting him. Oh, no. She was going to get rid of the troublesome pair once and for all using the same thing that she'd used to put the mutts to sleep: _fire_.

It wasn't even hard, once you'd found a flint. Echo was now glad that she'd checked out one of the survival booths and learned how to make a fire, because it turned out that she'd found a stone that looked like flint and it turned out it made some damn good sparks. Good enough to set the underbrush alight and make some sleepy tracker jackers, and therefore good enough to roast the girl from Eight and James into oblivion.

She sighed and watched as her breath formed a puff of vapor in the air. The night was cool, which was about to change, but still. Echo looked into the velvet sky as she heard the anthem begin to play. _There were two cannons today, so who kicked it? _

First the boy from Five showed up, and then the boy from Seven. _Weak, _Echo thought. _They couldn't make it. I can. _She fingered the flint in her jacket. _Oh, yes. I'm not weak at all._

She glanced across the road to where the boy was standing, stoically guarding the house. She didn't know when his alliance was planning to show the hell up and finish that bastard James and his slippery little partner, but Echo knew if they opened the door they'd meet a hell of a lot of resistance. Maybe one of them would even be able to escape. And she couldn't have that.

Sneaking around to the back of the house was going to be tricky. Echo, as a rule, was not a sneaker; she preferred to play things loud and proud. This was not the way to go when facing a four tribute alliance. There was no doubt in her mind that revealing herself to them would only get her killed.

So, how to distract Mr. Guard Boy long enough to torch James and District Eight? If she outright attacked him, he'd call for help, and Garnet Painite and her little friends would come running. Echo hated Garnet, but now really was not the time to settle old scores. Later, perhaps.

She yawned and stretched in the alley serving as her hideout. Slowly and cautiously, she rose to her feet, watching the boy. He didn't seem to notice her, but then he could be playing with her. Time would tell.

She started forward and stopped at the end of the alley; he still hadn't seen her. Good. And then Echo took a deep breath and made her decision.

She charged.

The boy looked startled, and jumped back as she made her presence known. Before he could get close to her, however, she was already scraping her knife against the flint, hoping for some sparks. There were a few raining from the black stones, but she had no idea if they were enough. The boy was coming at her and he slashed her shoulder. She was surprised by the enormous amount of pain and blood until she noticed the clawed glove he had on. He came back for another strike and she kicked him where it hurt most, noting with glee that he crumpled and tried to get to his feet.

She felt a tiny note of heat and grinned at the little flame starting in the wilted grass at the house's feet. She knelt down and plucked it up, and suddenly pitched forward as the boy grabbed her ankle, with his un-gloved hand, thankfully. Her little brand hit the wood side of the building, and she smirked as the tiny flame began to grow, creeping up one of the walls.

"Garnet! Rylla! Rosie!" The boy barked, trying to drag her over. She kicked his hand viciously and wriggled away, getting to her feet with leonine grace. Contemptuously, she spit at him before pumping her feet and pounding into the network of alleys that would keep her safe until she could start another fire that would take out the tracker jackers.

She grinned viciously. _Mission accomplished, _she thought happily, and faded away into the darkness.

* * *

><p>The darkness was total, absolute, and horrific. Mela felt it pressing down on her like a blanket, and once again had to resist the urge to scream.<p>

She'd been walking for some time now. All day and into the night, probably. She'd heard the anthem start, but to her displeasure she hadn't been able to see the faces in the darkness. _For all I know, that mutt ate Matt. Damn, I wish I'd stuck around to help. And what the hell happened to Ameth?_

Mela, stumbling blindly in the dark, had not been able to find Ameth. She'd heard the younger girl's cries and had shot towards her, desperate, but no matter where she ran the cries faded out until Mela was convinced she and Ameth had run in separate directions completely. Eventually, she'd realized by the sound of her footsteps that she wasn't in the cavern any longer; she was in a kind of narrow tunnel. And there was no sense in going back, only forward. Maybe the tunnel would converge and she'd be able to find Ameth, but she didn't want to go back to the cavern, where there was possibly a very large mutt waiting to tear her to shreds.

And so she trudged along, fairly despondent. Idly she flipped her once-long brown hair; it just wasn't the same now that it came down to her chin. She put a finger around her sash to calm herself. It was her token; a present from her best friends, the brothers Ruffy and Blaise. She pictured the mountain green of the sash with the 'dM' embroidered at the end, and sighed to herself. She was going to make it back home; of course she was. Maybe it was a good thing that the alliance had broken up. Mela wouldn't have known when to break it off with Ameth and Saber, and she definitely would have no clue on how to break it off with Matt. Probably she would have waited until the end of the Games, maybe until they were the last ones left. She still clung to the hope that he was still alive, but the cannon so soon after they'd heard the mutt growling led her to doubt it.

There was a light up ahead. Mela didn't believe it at first, but the darkness around her was growing thinner, and the light was getting brighter with every step. She managed to hold herself back for a moment, and then sighed and shot forward, determined to make it to the light before _something _happened.

What she realized first was that she had been in a tunnel after all, which was good to know. The end to the tunnel was ahead of her; it appeared to be a circular vertical passage, which was going to be hard to scale. There was also a strange, squirmy noise coming from it that she found hard to identify. And then she made it to the vertical passage, and realized where she was.

She was standing next to a pit that was completely filled with leech mutts. She shuddered in revulsion; getting up had suddenly gotten a lot trickier. She could see a hole at the top of the passage, and the velvet of the night above it. It looked as though she was near the entrance to a well, but she couldn't be positive. There was a rope stretching down into the roiling mass of leeches, probably with a bucket attached. Mela noted dimly that there was some sort of fluid under all the leeches, but there was no way she was going to try and get some of it. She did have one pack that she'd been carrying when they'd split up; there was a hunk of bread and some cheese in it, and one pint of water. Her tongue felt hard and dry, but she was rationing that water until it was absolutely necessary for her to drink it.

_Simple, _Mela thought, looking up at the night sky. _I'll have to climb that rope. _She looked up at it nervously. Sure, it could hold a bucket, but what about a sixteen year old girl? If it broke, she'd fall directly into the creepy little leech mutts, which was something she was in no mood to do. And, of course, there were a couple of the mutts on the rope itself. No doubt they'd start sucking as soon as she touched them. _I hope they're not poisonous._

There was no point in waiting. Slowly, Mela reached out and snagged the rope, pulling herself up quickly to avoid the leech mutts. There was a tiny prick of pain, and she looked down at her shin and sighed; a persistent little mutt had latched on and was now busy gorging itself on her lifeblood. _Just get to the top. You'll get rid of it then._

She wrapped her feet around the rope and pulled herself up, inch by inch. In minutes, she was covered in sweat, and there was a leech on her wrist, which was a really bad place for it, and another on her cheek. Her muscles were shaking uncontrollably and she knew that she was going to fall.

"No!" She gasped, forcing herself up another few inches. She gritted her teeth and hissed. "I. Am. Not. Going. To. Die!" She cried, and with herculean effort heaved herself over the rim of the well and thudded onto the grass. Immediately, she ripped off the mutt on her leg, the one on her wrist, and the one on her cheek, ignoring the pain, and stomped them into a pulpy paste beneath her booted foot. Shuddering, she turned away from the bloody mess and stared at her surroundings.

She recognized that she was in a ruined village right off the bat. There were old houses all around her, as well as supplies. It looked as though she'd climbed directly into some other tribute's camp. It was deserted now, though, and she didn't hesitate; she snagged their pack and slung it over her shoulder, where it bumped uncomfortably against her own pack. _If I'm going to win, I'll have to be ruthless._

Where had they gone, the tributes that had been here before? Mela didn't have to look long. There was the crackle of flames and the sound of shouts coming from a street to her right. Slowly, she crept over, peering into the street to see four beat-up looking tributes backing away from a house that appeared to be on fire. As she watched, the sole male tribute pointed in the opposite direction from Mela and said something, and he and two others darted off, leaving behind the smallest tribute.

Mela didn't hesitate. Her throwing knives were at her belt, and she yanked one out, aiming it at the girl. She was about to throw when she jumped back, shocked. Part of the house had collapsed completely, and out of it, running as though he was being chased by dozens of mutts, came a boy. He had something slung over his shoulder, and he darted past the girl on guard and came running directly towards Mela.

_Oh, crap, _she thought, running in the opposite direction. She passed the well and the other tribute's camp again, and then she was heading into a part of the village she hadn't seen before. The buildings were silent; the only thing she could hear was the crackle of the fire and the sound of her own beating heart. She pumped her legs as she realized that she was nearing the border of the village. She could see forest in the distance; now all she had to do was make it there…

There was a strange, persistent buzzing in her ears, but she ignored it. _Get out, get out, get out! _She thought. Without pausing, she stumbled over the border.

At that exact instant, she realized what the buzzing was.

She took off, running as fast as she could, but she wasn't fast enough to avoid the first sting. It got her on the back of the neck and she groaned, trying to run faster. The pain was immediate and furious. The second sting was on her elbow, and she gave a shrill scream. The trees were dancing, she realized. Funny how she'd never noticed that before. The third was on the back of her knee, and the fourth was on her shoulder, and she collapsed, twitching, into the suddenly neon green ground.

She waited to see if anyone was following her, tracker jacker or human, but nothing happened. The tiny part of her that was still lucid forced her to roll under a bush, which suddenly transformed into a bright red crustacean, snapping its claws at her. She screamed, covering her ears and eyes, and closed her eyes to see Ruffy and Blaise. _Ruffy? Blaise? _She screamed again as knives appeared, sticking out of their heads. "Help me," she sobbed. "Somebody."

And then she spiraled away into nightmares that turned out to be worse than staying awake.

* * *

><p>The fight with the worm mutt was taking a bit longer than anticipated.<p>

Lysemet took a ragged breath, glancing at her companions. The worm mutt had taken its toll on all of them; Soleil's arm had been ripped off quite some time ago, although the bleeding had stopped around twilight. Landon was doing pretty well, actually, with only a minor bruise from where the mutt had hit him with its tail. Dillon wasn't doing too well; there was a chunk of flesh missing from his pelvis from where the mutt had bit at him, and his right leg had been scorched when he'd stepped on a trap that had turned out to be a flamethrower. But Lysemet, she was doing the worst of all.

The mutt had stolen her wings.

It turned out that the creepy freak didn't have eyes, but it had perfectly capable jaws with sharp, bony teeth. She glanced over her shoulder to see the bloody, ruined thing the mutt had replaced her beautiful wing with. It had been torn off completely by the albino freak, leaving only a blood-gushing stump in its wake. The other wing had been torn in two and was now absolutely useless, except for maybe fanning herself when she was hot. And she wasn't hot, because it was cold up here.

"It's cold!" Lysemet screamed, lunging for the mutt again. It hissed at her, swinging around its sinuous body until they were head-to-head. The mutt, against all odds, was actually beginning to show some signs of fatigue. It had deep gashes across its whole body from Soleil's swords; now sword, seeing as it had become impossible for her to hold two. Dillon had managed to toss a knife in its throat, which hadn't seemed to hurt it unduly, but apparently it had swallowed the knife because now she could see it poking on the inside of the worm's body, which probably hurt. Landon had shot it multiple times in various places, and now it was finally beginning to slow down. And Lysemet was just getting started.

She slashed her whip across the mutt's head, and it gave a tired hiss before shooting out at her. She barely managed to dodge the blow and stumbled back, arm landing in the snow. There was a whirr of machinery, and suddenly a set of knives shot from the ground and impaled her arm in various places. Gritting her teeth, Lysemet pulled her arm off the knife. She was squirting blood now, and she wasn't happy about it. While she'd been down, Dillon had jammed a knife in the worm's blubbery body, which had done absolutely nothing to stop it. It reared its head and came after him, and he stumbled away, dangerously close to the cliff's edge.

Lysemet would have caught him, but apparently she couldn't fly anymore.

Landon shot another set of arrows in the mutt's bare neck and it screeched, twisting and slamming into the snow. It triggered at least three different traps; one stabbed it with a spear, one opened up a pit filled with broken glass that would kill a human but certainly not a giant mutt worm, and one exploded.

That one seemed to hurt the mutt the most. A chunk of its rubbery body exploded, and its thick red blood stained the snow. The mutt screamed, turning its attention to Soleil. She was panting and had her sword out, dry blood crusted around her arm stump. Lysemet would have pitied her, but she had to admit that she'd enjoyed the sight of Soleil writhing on the snow when the mutt had first stolen her arm, blood gushing from the stump like a fountain. It wasn't personal. It was the blood she liked.

The worm came at Soleil like lightening. She jumped agilely and landed on its head, but it shook her and she went flying, directly towards Lysemet. Lysemet growled as Soleil hit her; both girls tumbling towards the snow. Lysemet shrieked as she heard something click beneath the snow, and sat up just in time to avoid her head being caught in a bear trap. _The Gamemakers… How they love blood. The Capitol bastards._

Soleil scrambled to her feet, as did Lysemet. The mutt was coming along more warily now, hissing softly. It was bleeding in a lot of places, and it looked tired.

Lysemet wasn't going to give it a chance to rest. She ran at it, slashing her whip; and the mutt snapped at her. She landed on its head, smacking it into the snow, and wrapped her whip around its neck, pulling hard. The whip cut a gash into the creature's throat, not deep enough to kill but certainly deep enough to harm. It didn't even wail this time; it just shook its head and away she went, crumpling hard on her back.

She let out a piteous scream and sat up, sighing as a trap triggered beneath her, a blade that swiped at her. She was actually grateful to the thing as it sliced off her remaining wing and the stump; now there was nothing to obstruct her. Even the pain gave her useful clarity, and she screamed in exhilaration, putting a hand to her back and licking her bloody palm ecstatically.

She got to her feet shakily and watched the mutt as it slammed Dillon in the chest, sending him sprawling. It seemed to be fixated on Soleil, though, which made sense, because she was the one doing most damage to the creature. It butted aside Landon easily and went after the beauty from District One again, snapping at her remaining arm. Without a pause, Soleil jammed her sword directly in its head. It shuddered, gave a terrible screech, and went totally limp.

Soleil fell to her knees in the snow, gasping and panting, head facing the ground. She couldn't see what Lysemet saw; the slight tremor in the beast's body as it lifted its head up and looked down at its prize greedily before lunging down, jaws gaping.

The moment was frozen. Soleil looked up and saw the mutt, realizing that it had only been playing dead a heartbeat too late. She opened her mouth to say something, and there was a flash of black so quick that Lysemet wasn't sure if she had imagined it. And then she was sure that she hadn't imagined it, because standing tall above Soleil, head encased in the mutt's jaws, was Landon Nodean.

They both trembled for a moment, and then the mutt shook the boy viciously and opened its jaws, pulling him deeper inside its rubbery body. Lysemet could barely hear the cannon over Soleil's horrified screams, but it was definitely there. _Foolish boy, _Lysemet thought, sitting cross-legged and watching thoughtfully. _You sacrificed your life for her. True love- what bullshit. You should have picked life._

"He's dead, Soleil!" Lysemet screamed, voice carried to the sobbing girl by the wind. "The Capitol killed him, too! What bastards, what wonderful bastards!" She began to laugh, and the wind howled with her as though it were laughing too.

Soleil was still for a moment, and Lysemet stopped laughing, contemplating the girl. Her eyes were filled with a dark, terrible fury, and slowly she got to her feet. She didn't even look at the mutt, just kept her eyes closed as it finished Landon. And then she snapped them open, and they were black as Lysemet's heart. She stared at the mutt for a full minute before stepping forward slowly, raising her sword into the air.

It didn't stand a chance.

She was on its back before it had moved, hacking away at its neck. It writhed but she jammed her hand into its rubbery flesh and held on, still hacking. A deep gash began to widen in its neck, going deeper and deeper until the mutt's head was hanging by a foot of flesh. And then she raised her arm again and chopped off its head completely.

The mutt froze, and it sighed once before thudding to the ground by the cliff. Lysemet watched with interest as the mutt, with Soleil still on its back, slowly slipped over the edge. The girl waited for a few minutes, listening for the cannon. There was nothing.

She slowly got to her feet. Dillon was standing a few feet from the edge, frozen with shock. "Don't move!" She called to him. "I'm coming." She took a step, listening for traps carefully as she did so. It took a few moments, but she worked her way to her ally, and plopped down beside him, huffing.

He was holding her in an instant. "Are you okay?" He gasped. "Your wings- I mean, I…" She put a finger to his lips, effectively shutting him up.

"I'm alright," she said. "What about you?"

He shook his burnt leg ruefully. "I can walk on this, but I think running is out," he admitted, watching her carefully for her reaction. To his surprise, no doubt, she shrugged.

"We'll have to walk, then," she said simply. He looked shocked.

"Lysemet," he said slowly. "Aren't you going to- I don't know, cut your losses or something?" She cocked her head.

"We already did," she said simply. "Landon is gone and so is Soleil."

"I meant me," the boy said nervously. She rolled her eyes.

"No," she said. He frowned.

"You've changed," he admitted. "You're getting more and more lucid. No offense, but I don't understand it."

She grimaced. "I do," she said. "It's your fault, you stupid boy."

Dillon blinked. "_My _fault?"

"Yes," Lysemet said. "The closer I am to you, the less crazy I am, I think. It's troublesome."

Dillon took a deep breath. "I think it's good," he said. She looked at him and shoved him over suddenly, landing on his chest.

"You're wrong," she said simply, breathing on his face. "It's bad." She snaked a hand around the back of his head and brushed her lips against his own. They stayed like that for a few moments, just pretending. Pretending that they weren't in the Games, that one or both of them wasn't going to die, that they hadn't just been beaten up by a mutt. It felt good to pretend.

She let him up, and they both stared through the darkness for a while. Dillon cleared his throat. "Are you ever going to do that again?" He asked hoarsely, staring at her with eyes filled with love and maybe a hint of lust too.

She shook her head. "I don't think so," she said quietly, hugging her arms around her chest. "It makes me weak, and it makes you weaker. So, no."

"Alright," Dillon said. He stood slowly. "We should get out of here," he said. "This whole place was just a deadly waste of time."

_Not really, _Lysemet thought. _It made you love me. And now I have you all to myself, no Landon or Soleil to get in the way._

But she nodded at him, keeping her thoughts to herself. "Yeah," she said, and away they went.

* * *

><p>Garnet was pissed.<p>

Echo had gotten away, of course. She, Rylla and Fang had hunted for the girl for at least an hour, but she was nowhere to be found. Now, they were trudging back to where they'd left Rosie, discouraged and annoyed. Echo _had _had the right idea with the fire, but she was also one of Garnet's greatest enemies in these Games. She had no wish for an alliance with the poisonous girl.

They rounded a corner and Garnet was faced with the most annoying surprise of the night. Rosie was in the center of the road, covered in soot. They'd made a splint for her mostly ruined arm, and it was scorched, her arm dangling. The house with James and the girl from Eight in it was totally destroyed, and the worst thing about the whole situation was that it looked as though their scorched bodies weren't in it.

"They escaped!" Rosie sobbed, before they'd even made it to her side. "A wall broke down and they ran off! I'm sorry, I', s-so sorry!" She gasped and began to cry even more, tears making rivers down her dirty face. Garnet knelt down beside the girl and put an arm around her comfortingly.

"It's not your fault," she said. "Don't worry. If you'd tried to fight them they would've killed you. Let's just go back to the base, alright?" Garnet figured that it would be easier to cool down there. Right?

Wrong.

Their pack was gone. All their supplies; everything that they needed for survival, was freaking _gone_. The alliance stared at the remnants of their base for a moment. No words were spoken. None were needed.

Garnet slumped against the well and kneaded her eye socket angrily. They'd been screwed over, badly. She didn't know who'd taken their stuff, but she did know that when she found out who'd done it, they were history. And to make matters worse, her eye socket really, really hurt.

Almost as soon as she had the thought, there was a huff of air and she looked up to see a silver parachute floating gently from the sky. It was coming for her, and she reached out and snagged it. There was a little silver box attached to the parachute, and she opened it impatiently.

"Oh, this is just cute," she growled, pulling out the glass eye nestled in the box. Rylla looked over with interest.

"Put it in," she said, going back to picking at the dried grass. Garnet stared at the glass eye. It was cool to the touch, and it felt strangely sticky, although it was covered with something. Something to help make her socket feel better, perhaps? She sighed, shrugged, and turned the eye so that the pupil was facing out. Carefully, she opened her eyelid with a finger and pushed the eye in.

After the flash of initial pain, she realized that there was definitely something on the eye to make her feel better, because a swathe of numbness took hold of her eye. She gasped in relief, opening and closing her eyelid experimentally. This gift must have cost a fortune; at least she knew it meant that she had sponsors.

"Thanks, guys," she said. "This means a lot to me." She could just imagine her sponsors squealing with glee at the words.

_Well, this changes my outlook on life considerably, _she thought, and, with the bad pun still rattling around in her brain, she closed her eyes, plural again, thank God, and fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>First off, apologies. SORRY THATSTHETRUTH! I LOVED LANDON! HE WAS SO EPIC! And you've still got Soleil...<strong>

**TRIBUTE WATCH!**

**Soleil Nike Callwyn  
>At the base of the mountain; missing arm<br>Kills: None**

**Echo Garnett  
>Hiding in the forest near the ruined village; uninjured<br>Kills: Rorie Jameson (BB character)**

**Mela Servitore  
>Under a bush near the ruined village; four tracker jacker stings and three leech mutt bites<br>Kills: Cypress Lockhart**

**Rylla Stevens  
>The center of the village with Rosie, Fang and Garnet; stab wound in shoulder<br>Kills: None**

**Dillon Murphy  
>At the trapfield at the peak of the mountain with Lysemet; half-healed cut in ankle and scorched leg<br>****Kills: Qwiss Qwail (BB character)**

**Ameth Azeleck  
>Wandering in one of the tunnels under the mountain; mildly hungry and thirsty<br>Kills: None**

**Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow  
>At the trapfield at the peak of the mountain with Dillon; two chopped-off wings<br>Kills: Hu Phang (BB character); Saber Anderson**

**Seren Alyona  
>In the forest by the base of the mountain with Merryn; uninjured<br>Kills: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>In the forest near the ruined village with James; poisoned<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Merryn Enya Night  
>In the forest by the base of the mountain with Seren; uninjured<br>Kills: Matt Grove**

**Garnet Painite  
>The center of the village with Rosie, Fang and Rylla; gash over right eyebrow, missing left eye<br>Kills: None**

**Rosie Fullmoon  
>The center of the village with Rylla, Fang and Garnet; strip of flesh missing from arm, same arm halfway cut through<br>Kills: None**

**James Austin Mocking  
>In the forest near the ruined village with Arista; stab wound in the sole of the foot, five slashes across face and one on the side of the head<br>****Kills: None**

**Fang  
>The center of the village with Rylla, Rosie and Garnet; uninjured<br>Kills: Blame Iemm (BB character)**

**Also, kudos to Mocking James for reminding me about sponsor gifts. I completely forgot. So, a big thank-you to Mocking James! *cheers and whistles**

**Bye everybody; see you next week!**


	15. The Darkness Converges

**Hey hey hey!**

**Sorry that this is coming out so late, but, believe it or not, I was actually doing something today...**

**Surprising, I know.**

**Anyway; it's here now, so enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Seren woke up quietly and shivered. It was getting colder in the arena; his jacket had become a staple. He didn't know what would have happened by now if he didn't have it. He'd be dead, probably. And Seren was, at the moment, just enjoying being alive.<p>

He stared up at the dark sky. It was still early morning; the sun had only just risen. Merryn was curled up a few feet down from him in her jacket, nestled securely in the fork of a tree. Seren hadn't really enjoyed sleeping with his back pressed against rough bark, but it had made Merryn happy, and in the end he'd agreed.

He looked down at the ground below him nervously. It was a far-off drop, one that could very well kill him. Which was why, he mused, he wasn't going to fall.

He heard the twigs snapping a long time before he saw her. He whistled internally at the sight of the once-proud Soleil Nike Callwyn. He remembered her from the parade; she'd been resplendent and beautiful in her white gown, showing Panem how easily she could win the Games. Now she was a bloody mess. It appeared as though one of her arms had been torn off completely, and her clothing was shredded. In her remaining hand she held one sword, which she was dragging behind her in the earth. Her dirty face was streaked with tears; her clothing streaked with blood. He considered dropping from the tree and ending her life, but he didn't think he'd be able to land on his feet properly. And with that haunted look in her eyes, there was no doubt in his mind that she'd kill him in seconds.

He'd seen the death of her district partner in the sky, and apparently she was very upset about it.

He waited until she'd shuffled out of sight before relaxing and leaning against the tree branch again. The Games were getting worse with every passing day. It was only… what day was it again? Right; it was only day three, and there were only fourteen tributes left. They were almost down to half.

Seren pressed a finger against the nurse's hat in his pocket. It was his token; the hat his crying mother had given him on the day of the Reapings. The Reapings, his family… They felt as though they were an eternity ago.

_I have to get back to them, _he thought to himself. _I need to remake my life. And then we can all live in the Victor's Village, and life will be even better than before, and… No, I have to stop daydreaming. There'll be plenty of time for that if I win._

He heard the sound of a tiny sigh, and he smiled fondly as Merryn opened her huge eyes sleepily, giving him a tiny grin. "Morning," she muttered, pushing herself up into a sitting position. She looked so natural in the trees; Seren was never worried she'd fall. Himself, on the other hand, he often worried about…

"Hey," Seren responded, grinning at her. Merryn dangled her feet over the branch and began to clamber down easily, looking up at Seren as though expecting him to follow.

He sighed, frowned at the tree, and carefully placed his foot in a knothole, tentatively bringing himself to the ground, one painstakingly slow step at a time. Merryn was waiting for him at the bottom; together they stared up at the tree. It had been their solace; now they remembered where they were, and what would happen to them if they lost.

"What do we do now?" Seren asked. They'd agreed that the caverns weren't safe anymore; not after so many tributes had passed through. They hadn't considered the mountain for a second, especially when last night Seren was awakened to the sight of some sort of huge monster sliding down the slope. It was dead, and when he'd woken up this morning it was gone, which probably meant that a tribute or two had killed it. And if these tributes could kill a monster like that, Seren and Merryn had no interest in meeting them.

"I don't know," Merryn admitted. "I hate just waiting around here, for something to happen. If we wait, the Gamemakers will make our lives hell."

"I suppose," Seren said. "Do you want to go that way, then?" He pointed into the woods at random. Merryn considered for a second, and then nodded.

"Alright," she said, already heading in the direction he'd indicated. Seren followed her slowly. He hated these woods; he really did. Last time he'd been here, Lysemet had nearly killed him, as well as Soleil and her district partner. Oh, how the times change. Now Soleil's partner was dead and she was wandering the woods like a zombie.

The sky lightened fractionally, but the air remained chilly. Seren didn't know if the cold air was meant to drive anybody out or to force them to make a fire or try to keep warm. It was possible that there were other tributes in the arena doing worse than he was. He shivered and bit his lip, wrapping his arms around his chest. It didn't really help.

Merryn was slowing down, and suddenly she came to a complete stop, eyes fixed on something in the distance. Seren stopped also and frowned, peering in the direction of Merryn's eyes. He couldn't see anything unusual; but then again, she was a lot better than him when it came to spotting things. "What is it?" he whispered, dread crawling down her spine.

Merryn answered promptly. "There are mutts," she said. "Tons of them."

"What?" Seren yelped, straining his eyes. He still didn't see anything. "Where?"

"If I tell you," Merryn said, "do you promise not to move your eyes?"

"Okay…"

"They're above us," Merryn whispered. "In the trees. And if you look up, they're programmed to kill you."

Seren swallowed, heart galloping in his chest. "Can we not walk under them?" he asked, staring fixedly at a point in the distance. _I will not look up, I will not look up, I will not look up…_

Merryn shook her head tightly. "That would be a bad idea," she said simply. "In fact, you should stop fidgeting so much. I'm pretty sure it agitates them."

Seren froze, mid- hand wring. He found that he was looking at a very handsome red and blue mushroom, and narrowed his eyes at it. _Focus only on the mushroom. Not the mass of mutts gathered in the trees right above your head. Don't think about them…_

"How do we get away?" he asked, eyes still exploring the mushroom. It looked poisonous. Maybe they could feed it to the mutts?

"Actually," said Merryn, "I don't think we do."

"What?"

"Well, think about how boring it would be for the Capitol audience if we actually managed to get away," Merryn pointed out. "But don't worry," she added. "I've got a plan." He could sense the grin in her voice, even if he couldn't see it himself.

"Hooray," he said weakly. "Is it going to, you know… kill us?"

"It's possible," Merryn admitted. "But remember the Mutticator?"

"Yeah," Seren said unwillingly.

"Right," Merryn said. "I'm going to hold it up in the air and program one of these mutts to join us. You will run as fast as you can in the opposite direction."

"Why?"

"Just in case. I mean, it's probably not going to work. And it might divert their attention long enough to buy me some time."

Seren swallowed. "Alright."

"On my mark," Merryn commanded. "Three… two… one."

Seren shot off in the direction of the trees behind him, and a ragged shriek arose from the treetops. He heard the beating of wings, and the next instant there were talons on all sides of him, scratching and clawing. He pressed forward through the feathers, wincing as one of the birds got a good slash in the base of his neck. His skin tore and his blood seemed to put the mutts in an even greater frenzy. One of them went for Seren's eyes, pecking and clawing. He put out a hand to stop it, and the bird stabbed deeply through his palm. He gasped in pain and felt his foot land on a feathery body. Before he could stop himself he was twisting through the air. He landed hard on his back and felt the weight of a hundred feathery bodies on top of him, and he knew that he was going to die.

And then there was the sound of an almost metallic screech, and everything stopped.

The birds on top of Seren began to flap their wings and float in the air towards the one bird that was now crying on Merryn's shoulder. It was big; about the size of a hawk, with three eyes over its beak and dark purple feathers. It had an imposing, blood-red crest, and massive talons that could very well be made of steel. The other birds appeared to be listening to its cries, because they floated back to their perches in the trees and began cawing to each other raucously, as though they couldn't care less that their territory had been invaded by humans.

Seren got to his feet slowly. His whole body ached, and although the worst cut was definitely at the base of his neck, he was completely covered in scratches. Merryn looked no better; she was bleeding from a cut on her lip (now both of them had split lips) and she had smaller scratches all over her body, particularly on her torso.

"You did it," Seren breathed, starting towards her. "Um… is that mutt going to attack me?"

"No," Merryn said, eyes sparkling. "The Mutticator… it's amazing, Seren! It allows me to link my thoughts and impulses with the mutt's! It's almost like we're one person now!" Gleefully she tossed the Mutticator into the bushes. "We don't need it anymore," she explained. "Now that we're linked, it won't work again."

"Okay," Seren said, reaching out tentatively towards the mutt. It watched him closely with its beady yellow eyes, but allowed him to rub the feathers on the top of its head. After a few good hard pats, he pulled his hand away and collapsed on the grass.

"That," he panted, "was amazing." Merryn just smiled.

"I think that the odds have swung around in our favor, Seren," she said, and he nodded.

How could they lose the Games now?

* * *

><p>Arista was trapped in a world of darkness.<p>

She had no idea what had changed, but she was conscious now. She just couldn't move. She was completely paralyzed, and she didn't like it. Even her eyes wouldn't open, which sucked, to be frank. But she was awake, and she could think.

_I think, _she thought, _I'll work on opening my eyes. That can't be too hard, right? Right?_

Opening her eyes was a lot harder than she anticipated. They felt like lumps of lead, and she was too weak to lift as much as a pound right now. If James were out there, he was protecting her, but if not, if something had happened… She was all alone. And if she was all alone and paralyzed, she was dead.

And Arista Ryans did not want to die in the dark.

She went back to work, sweating and straining against her own eyelids. The effort was maybe more than she could bear, but she had to do it. If she didn't, she would die alone. She didn't want that.

She knew that she was close when her eyesight began to get lighter. It was a fractional, infinitesimal thing, but she knew what it meant. _I'm almost there, _she thought, and redoubled her efforts.

When her eyes finally did open, it was abrupt. They snapped, revealing to her the blinding white light of midday. She cringed and shut them again, and then reopened them. There; they did her bidding again. Gradually, as she squinted, the outlines of trees came into view. She was lying on her back in the forest, she realized. And, as she watched, James' head popped into her field of vision. "Arista!" he shouted, sounding joyful. "It worked!"

Arista dearly would have loved to ask him what, exactly, had worked, but her mouth wasn't working and no doubt it would take her hours to loosen it up. So she gave James what she hoped was a quizzical stare with her eyes alone. _Please let him understand._

James looked serious for a moment, and then he reached out of her field of view and returned holding a silver parachute. "We have sponsors, Arista," he said. "Someone sent me a drapeweed substitute. Apparently it's not as strong as the real thing. The best we'll get from it is a paralyzed but alive you. I mean, obviously you can move your eyelids now, and there's a chance you'll be able to talk sooner or later, but until I find the real thing that's all you'll be able to do."

Mentally, Arista sighed. _Well, isn't that just typical, _she thought, annoyed. _I wish I could thank James, though. Or tell him to get the hell away from me. I'm just dead weight._

The thought surprised her. Gone was the girl who had no trust of James. What had happened to her? Now, James was risking his life to take care of her. Why would he do something like that?

She found that her eyes were pricking with tears. _It's because he loves you, idiot, _she thought.

James noticed the tears immediately. "Arista?" he asked gently. "Are you crying?" She would have loved to shake her head but even that small motion was impossible. Besides, the tears were brimming over and spilling down her cheeks now. _How odd. I never cry, and now that I finally am it's because someone is in love with me._

James reached down and hastily began to wipe the tears away. "Don't cry," he told her. "We'll find a solution." He bent closer, until his cheek was pressed against hers. "I'm going to take care of you, Arista," he whispered in her ear. "I promise."

And then he pulled away, leaving Arista with nothing but his scent and his promise ringing in her ears.

* * *

><p>Echo was headed for the mountain.<p>

She'd make a pit stop at the Cornucopia on her way, but honestly, she'd had enough of the village. Her main goal had been accomplished, anyway. James and his ally were finally dead. It would have been nice to take out Garnet too, Echo mused, but there was always time for that later. Besides, it had been pretty cool to see her two biggest enemies pitted against each other.

There was only one problem with her plan. She hadn't heard the cannons. She'd listened as intently as she could while running away from the scene. Maybe the cannons had been when she'd set another fire to get away from the tracker jackers, but Echo couldn't be certain.

_Nah, _she thought. _They're dead. How could they still be alive? They were trapped in a burning building! And I know for a fact the fire didn't go out; I could see the smoke for hours. Maybe I burned down that whole stupid village. I don't care, anyway._

She'd been walking for a major portion of the night, and now it was midday and the Cornucopia was in sight. Last time she'd been here, Cypress had gotten pinned up to the side of the Cornucopia with knives, she remembered. Ah well, that alliance really hadn't lasted long.

There were still a lot of goodies lying around; Echo could see that. She started forward and stopped almost immediately at the sound of rustling coming from inside the Cornucopia's golden mouth. Was it possible? Was there really another tribute in there?

"Hey," Echo called. "Get the hell out. Those are _my _supplies." The rustling stopped for an instant, and then a head poked out of the golden horn. It was the girl from District One, Echo realized. And she looked terrible.

She was covered in blood and tears, and her clothing was a mess. Her jacket had been ripped to practically shreds, and everything else she was wearing was stained. She saw Echo and slowly straightened up like a robot, dragging her sword behind her. She took slow, shuffling steps to where Echo stood, and then, like lightening, she was swinging her sword in a deadly arc towards Echo's head.

Echo dropped to the ground to avoid the blow, glaring at District One. The girl's eyes were hollow, as if she didn't know what she was doing. Echo decided to work on that. "Hey, District One!" she taunted. "What's the matter with you? And where's your partner, huh?"

At the mention of her partner, the girl jolted as though she'd been shocked. "…Landon," she muttered.

"Landon? He's dead, isn't he?" Echo asked, carefully sliding her knife from her pocket. The girl's eyes widened, but she didn't crumple to the ground like Echo had expected. Instead, she stood straighter, her eyes glistening with vindictive pleasure.

"Yes," she said. "And _you _killed him!" She shot forward, waving her sword. _The girl's insane! _Echo thought, jumping to the side. District One's sword thudded to the dirt, and she turned around, teeth bared in a feral snarl.

Echo couldn't help herself. "Holy crap," she muttered. "That thing's a monster!" She glanced at a spot behind the girl and widened her eyes. "It's Landon!" she shrieked, pointing and jumping up and down. "Landon; look, don't you see!" The girl turned around slowly and grasped the hilt of her sword in one arm. Painstakingly slowly, she began to stumble in the direction Echo had pointed. In a few moments, she had wandered into the trees and disappeared from view.

Echo shuddered. That crazy girl from Six was one thing, but this was entirely another. At least the girl from Six was lucid. The death of Landon had completely driven District One over the edge.

Echo jogged to the Cornucopia. Honestly, there was still a ton of stuff here. She was disappointed to find that all of the spears had been taken, but there was a trident in here that looked good. A trident was basically the same thing as a spear, right? Carefully, she leaned back and hurled it at the side of the Cornucopia, where it thudded, quivering, into the soft metal. Echo grunted appreciatively and pulled it out. She could use it.

She snagged a few packs as well, slinging them over her shoulder. Who knew when she'd make it back here? Waiting at the Cornucopia wasn't a good idea; the audience would get bored with it and that would be the end of Echo.

She headed out of the Cornucopia, glancing around to see if anyone was there. Nobody was; but that didn't stop her from hurrying as fast as she could in the direction of the mountain towering in the distance. Echo was _not _afraid.

But she didn't see any harm in being cautious.

* * *

><p>So dark.<p>

So cold.

So empty.

Ameth's stomach growled again, and ruefully she gave it a half-hearted pat. She'd been stumbling around for a while now. The darkness was cold, and she knew in her heart that it was unforgiving. She could die down here.

She was beginning to think that maybe she would.

Her tongue was so dry. Walking was becoming a chore. Every so often she'd trip over something in the dark and sometimes she didn't have the energy to get back up.

She always did though. Because if she didn't, she would die.

At some point in her exile under the mountain she'd heard the anthem. Now she could hear it again. It was loud; it rumbled through her very bones. _Two days, _she thought. _Two days with no water. _Forming coherent sentences was becoming difficult.

Hours moved quickly in the dark. Probably because she couldn't see the time going by.

Her tongue felt worse than before. It was a piece of leather in her mouth; dry and cracking. Whenever she tried to move it, it flopped limply, searching for moisture. Her saliva was all froth. No substance.

_Keep on going, _she told herself, but it was getting harder to do that. Before, she'd been hunting for a specific source of water. Now she was just wandering aimlessly, eyes wide and gaping, hoping that she didn't run into any mutts. She wouldn't be able to see them until it was too late.

She brushed against a sharp rock and felt it tear into her skin. Blood bubbled down her arm and she fell to her knees, panting and licking at the wound. The blood washed over her cracked tongue and for a moment she was clear-headed. But this lucidity only brought dark thoughts. _The blood won't sustain me, _she realized. _I'm still just as bad off as I was before._

She felt herself hit the ground. For a few long minutes, she did not get up.

Eventually, she rolled onto her stomach. All of her muscles were trembling, but she forced herself onto her hands and knees. She began to crawl. Every shuffled step was agony, but she kept moving forward. She had to.

At one point she realized that she was going to die. She gave a strangled yelp and fell to her side, clutching at her neck. She had a family back home; brothers and sisters and a dog that were waiting for her. But she couldn't do it anymore. Every time she swallowed, the dry sides of her neck scraped together. Every step she took, her muscles shook. She couldn't make it back to them. She couldn't even cry.

It took everything that Ameth had, but she got to her feet. She wouldn't die on her hands and knees like an animal. She would die as she came into these Games; strong, firm, and unwaveringly staring her own death in the eyes until the end.

She took one step. She was almost finished; she could see that now. Another step. And another.

She stopped. Wavered in the air for a moment. And then she crashed to the cold cavern floor like a felled tree. This was it, she knew. Like it or not, Amethyst Azeleck would never be getting up again.

She could feel it in the air, though. There was moisture here. Water. She breathed through her nose and limply moved one of her legs, shoving herself forward about half an inch. Her head was beginning to spin; the darkness around her morphing into milky swirls that spiraled around her. It was very disconcerting.

She grunted and moved both feet this time, shoving herself forward again. One hand reached out, determined. She would find the water. She had a chance.

She felt something cool brush her fingertips and flopped forward in excitement, her hand fully submerging in the soft caresses of water. She gasped giddily and moved a little closer, her arm submerging to her elbow.

The water swished, and suddenly there was a sharp pain in her hand. Dimly, she cracked open her eyes. She could just make out the rapid movement of something in the water; maybe a fish. It bit her hand again, and then there were more fish. She could feel them busily ripping, tearing, shredding away until there was nothing left of her hand but a bloody stump. She could feel slimy bodies bumping up against her arm, determined to get a bite before she was all gone.

She let out a low cry. A moan. The water was close, but it was altogether too far. The blood floating away was all she had left. _All she had left._

She was dead.

Her eyes closed, and the buzzing in her ears faded away. She realized dumbly that she was floating in water, surrounded by it, in fact. She could see some sort of glowing white light, and without hesitation she swam for it.

The light engulfed her, and she died.

The body of Amethyst Azeleck wavered on the edge of the underground lake for a moment. The fish tore at her arm, and she slowly slipped into the water. For a moment, one of the cameras got a good shot; a lovely angle of Ameth's dark hair billowing around her head. She looked like an angel; a goddess.

Then the fish converged and she was torn to shreds in seconds.

* * *

><p><strong>First off, I'd like to apologize to ShiningMockingjay1. Actually, this is a bigger apology than usual, because you're the first person to be completely knocked out of the Games! I'm really sorry...<strong>

**TRIBUTE WATCH!**

**Soleil Nike Callwyn  
>Wandering in the valley; missing arm<br>Kills: None**

**Echo Garnett  
>Heading towards the mountain; uninjured<br>Kills: Rorie Jameson (BB character)**

**Mela Servitore  
>Waking up under a bush near the ruined village; four tracker jacker stings and three leech mutt bites<br>Kills: Cypress Lockhart**

**Rylla Stevens  
>Wandering the village with Rosie, Fang and Garnet; stab wound in shoulder<br>Kills: None**

**Dillon Murphy  
>Halfway down the mountain with Lysemet; half-healed cut in ankle and scorched leg<br>****Kills: Qwiss Qwail (BB character)**

**Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow  
>Halfway down the mountain with Dillon; two chopped-off wings<br>Kills: Hu Phang (BB character); Saber Anderson**

**Seren Alyona  
>In the forest by the base of the mountain with Merryn; scratch on base of neck, smaller scratches everywhere else<br>Kills: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>In the valley with James; paralyzed<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Merryn Enya Night  
>In the forest by the base of the mountain with Seren; scratches on torso<br>Kills: Matt Grove**

**Garnet Painite  
>Wandering the village with Rosie, Fang and Rylla; gash over right eyebrow, painful eye socket<br>Kills: None**

**Rosie Fullmoon  
>Wandering the village with Rylla, Fang and Garnet; strip of flesh missing from arm, same arm halfway cut through<br>Kills: None**

**James Austin Mocking  
>In the valley with Arista; stab wound in the sole of the foot, five slashes across face and one on the side of the head<br>****Kills: None**

**Fang  
>Wandering the village with Rylla, Rosie and Garnet; uninjured<br>Kills: Blame Iemm (BB character)**

**That's all for this Sunday, everybody! (Aw man, I can't believe we only have 13 tributes left! Time really does fly!)**


	16. Oh, the Irony

**I was late.**

**By a whole day.**

***Sigh**

**I was at my Grandma's again... No Internet connection. But now I'm back!**

**And, on a side note, even if I knock you out of the Games, please keep reading! Otherwise, but the time I get to the end there'll be no one left...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Dillon jerked out of a dreamless sleep at the boom of a cannon.<p>

He looked at Lysemet immediately, just to make sure that the cannon hadn't been the one signifying her death. She was alive, though, sitting next to the fire they'd made in the forest. Her pale face was covered in shadow, and she was glaring at the fire as though it had personally offended her in some way. He'd been nervous at first, making the fire, but Lysemet had assured him that no one would be willing to attack them, and she was probably right.

He sighed and settled against the cool grass, enjoying secretly watching the girl. She was supposed to be watching the trees, but he didn't think it was necessary. Who would attack them? They were one of the most powerful alliances in the arena. Of course, it had been better when Landon and Soleil had been around, but Landon was dead and Soleil was gone. They'd made it to the base of the mountain and there'd been nothing but crushed rock and mutt blood. There'd been no sign of Soleil. She was gone, and to tell the truth Dillon hoped that they wouldn't meet her again. The alliance was over, and he didn't want to kill someone he'd once befriended.

Dillon sighed, wondering briefly who the cannon had been for. Had it been Soleil's? Whoever's it was, it meant that he and Lysemet were one step closer to being the victors. _There can only be one victor, _he reminded himself firmly. _Only one… _

Lysemet turned to look at him, probably alerted to the fact that he wasn't asleep from the irregular pattern of his breathing. "Go to sleep, Dillon," she told him, before looking back at the fire. Her face was melancholy, as though she were lamenting. For what, he could only guess.

He closed his eyes dutifully. If Lysemet wanted him to sleep, he'd sleep. He'd never imagined that love could be powerful enough to draw him and the strange personality that was Lysemet together, but apparently love could accomplish anything. _Maybe it can even make the two of us victor… _he thought, falling back into the darkness…

He was awakened by the sound of shouting. He opened his eyes sleepily to discover that the fire was out. There was the sound of a scuffle coming from directly in front of him, and he squinted through the dark to see two shapes covering Lysemet, holding her down. She was making an angry sort of screeching noise, but she'd probably been surprised.

Dillon stumbled to his feet and lurched towards the scuffle. He caught the glint of a knife in the moonlight, and a panic overtook him. "Lysemet!" he called, noting with satisfaction that the two figures jerked their heads towards him and froze, apparently at a loss of what to do.

He launched himself into the fight, realizing as he did so that his knives were over by where he'd been sleeping. It was too late to change anything now, though. He snatched at the figures and felt someone grabbing his arm, and the next second hot pain flooded it. He growled and grabbed the person's wrist, forcing them to the ground. "Merryn!" he heard someone call, and pressed more firmly on his attacker.

"Get off me, Seren," he heard Lysemet say, and suddenly someone hit him hard in the back. He fell on top of someone he assumed was Merryn, and heard her growling at him. His arm ached and he pulled back impulsively as she slashed at him, just missing his nose. He grabbed the knife and felt the blade bite into his palm, but he pulled it back and he had it, ripping it from his skin. The girl wriggled underneath him, but he stabbed the knife down hard and felt it sink into flesh. The girl screamed, and he felt her stop moving, although there was no cannon.

"Got you," he heard Lysemet exclaim, and turned to see Seren Alyona struggling madly in a headlock, courtesy of his district partner. Lysemet had her black bullwhip in her hand, and Dillon realized that Seren was about to die. Lysemet raised the whip without preamble, and Merryn screamed, loud enough to startle Dillon. She kicked him hard in the chest and squirmed out from underneath him, scrambling to her feet.

"Get her, Regah!" she shrieked, pointing at Lysemet with a blood-covered hand. _Regah? Who's Regah?_

There was a strange, bird-like cry, and Lysemet dropped Seren and whipped around as something shot from the trees above them and landed on her face. She shrieked, dropping her bullwhip and grasping the thing on her face, trying desperately to get it off. Dillon yelled and bolted towards her, grabbing the feathered mutt and wrenching it away. He was greeted by a squirt of blood, and the mutt stabbed his palm and flapped noisily to join Merryn and Seren, who were jogging away into the foliage. They didn't seem in too much of a hurry, and as soon as Dillon turned to Lysemet he could see why.

She was standing, but swaying, blood pouring in two thick parallel streams down her cheeks. One of her eyes was gone completely, pecked out by the mutt Dillon assumed was Regah. The other was deeply punctured, and Dillon felt his heart throb.

Lysemet was blind.

* * *

><p>Fang couldn't help himself. Despite the fact that he was supposed to be on guard duty, he found himself watching Rylla. She was so beautiful when she was asleep. Her blonde hair framed a lovely face, and she looked peaceful and at ease.<p>

She hadn't been looking like that lately. Even when he was kissing her, her face would darken. She seemed impatient; unhappy. She seemed as though she were waiting for something to happen. And every time a cannon sounded, she got a little darker, a little more jumpy. And she wouldn't talk about it at all.

He sighed and looked away from Rylla, glancing around himself at the surrounding buildings and trying to ignore his growling stomach. They'd been foraging in the forest today, but they hadn't found much. Even Rosie, who was exceptional at finding edible plants, had come up with barely anything for them to eat. Of course, Rosie was a special case. Her arm had contracted an infection at some point, and it was only getting worse. He didn't know how long she was going to last, but today she'd been so tired that she'd spent most of their foraging time leaning against trees and breathlessly pointing out plants that could be edible. He felt a pang of sympathy; he doubted that she'd last much longer.

He sighed, tapping the claws he was wearing against the cobblestones. His claw glove had come in handy in a few scrapes, and anyway it was the only weapon he really felt comfortable using. Other than the glove, Fang's weapon was his fists and feet. And they weren't the best for winning the Games. That didn't bother Fang unduly. He'd never been a contender in these Games anyway.

When Fang had been reaped, he'd known it was the end. He had to admit that he hadn't really cared. He was willing to die in the Bloodbath; ready to die in the Bloodbath… And then he'd met Rylla. All thoughts of dying in the Bloodbath were immediately flushed from his mind. He wasn't going to win, that much was certain. But he was going to stay alive as long as he could, to help Rylla get the crown. He'd help Rosie and Garnet too, of course, but Rylla was his priority. He loved her. Even admitting it to himself hurt; there was no future between the two. The best he could do was help her win the Games, so he could die knowing that she'd win.

Fang thought that he'd like to die with that knowledge.

He lay back against the stone and closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the feeling of life in his body. Funny, he hadn't ever enjoyed life until he'd entered the arena, and then he found that he actually did like being alive. Oh, the irony.

He froze at the sound of footsteps. They were loud, as though their perpetrator had no desire to keep themselves hidden. Slowly, he got to his feet and crept in the direction of the sounds, slipping into a side alley and creeping through the darkness until he reached the tribute.

He recognized Soleil Nike Callwyn and winced at the sight of her. She was covered in tracker jacker stings; there were at least four covering her body, but she was still alive and still moving forward. She was covered in blood and her eyes were huge and crazed. She carried a sword behind her; it dragged on the stones and every so often clanked against an imperfection in the road.

He gave a low whistle and grimaced as she turned towards him, trembling. He figured she'd start swinging the sword, but her eyes widened in recognition and he realized that she was probably hallucinating. "L-L-L-Landon?" she gasped, taking a stumbling step forward, and then another. "Landon!" She dropped the sword and lunged towards him, grabbing him hard around the waist and pressing him into her. "It hurts, Landon," she sobbed, into his chest. "Why does it hurt?"

He raised his glove behind her and lightly took her around the neck, the metallic knives at the fingertips pressing ever-so-gently into her skin. One of the knives pressed a little too hard and a bead of blood ran down the elegant curve of her neck. She didn't seem to notice the pain.

She looked up at him, eyes misty. "I love you, Landon," she told him. "Did I tell you that when you were alive?" She frowned in concentration. "I want to be with you, Landon," she sighed, looking at the ground. "I wish I were dead." Her eyes welled up with tears. "Why does it hurt?"

It was with true pity that Fang pressed down, stabbing the knives in his gloves through her neck. She gave a little cry but didn't protest further, slumping to the ground and releasing herself from the knives. She wasn't dead yet and Fang didn't know how much longer it would be until she did die, but he couldn't bear to stay and finish the job. He whipped around, pulling the glove off his hand, and hurried into the alley again, back towards his camp and allies, leaving Soleil Nike Callwyn bleeding on the ground.

He had almost made it all the way back to the camp when he was overcome with emotion. Leaving a girl to die a long, slow death was wrong. It was up to him to make things quick for her. He turned around and hurried back in the direction where he'd left the girl.

She was still lying on the ground in the same position. She hadn't moved at all. Her face was extremely pale and her head was surrounded by a thick pool of her own blood. Her eyes were glazed and unfocused, but as he intruded on her field of vision they seemed to focus on him. "…Landon?" she rasped, a bubble of blood popping at her lips. "Landon?"

This time she seemed to require an answer. Fang nodded. "Yeah," he said huskily, remorse tearing him to pieces inside. He didn't usually feel so awful about the killing of another human being, but Soleil was different. It was clear that Landon had died, and he was taking advantage of her total grief to end her life. It didn't seem right.

As soon as he nodded, Soleil sighed and closed her eyes. Oxygen whistled from the many holes in her neck, accompanied by gushes of blood. Fang knelt by her side and took a deep breath before poising his knifed fingers over her heart. He closed his eyes and stabbed.

He could feel the warmth of her rapidly fading body spreading over his arm, and then there was the boom of a cannon. He pulled away, not even looking at the body of the once-beautiful girl. Soleil was gone. And that meant that Rylla was one step closer to being the victor.

He would do anything it took to assure that Rylla won. And if that meant that he'd have to kill crazy, innocent girls, well… he'd do it.

* * *

><p>Merryn shivered and pressed a hand to the stab wound in her collarbone. Every time she touched it, a stab of pain traveled through her chest and speared her heart. She sighed. <em>It was a bad idea to attack Lysemet and her ally. Even if we managed to blind Lysemet, her ally stabbed me and now my arm kind of hurts to use. If it weren't for Regah, we would've died.<em>

She glanced at the bird mutt fondly. Regah caught her looking and screeched, staring at her with glowing yellow eyes. He was situated on her shoulder, claws clutching her skin. Seren was sitting next to her against a tree, sleeping soundly. They'd stayed up all night waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack Lysemet and her ally. And when they finally did, the whole situation morphed into a disaster.

Merryn had spent most of the night bleeding away under a bush, with an anxious Seren urging her to hold on. It wasn't a large wound but it was pretty deep, and had been inflicted with Merryn's own knife, annoyingly enough. Now it was dawn and they were weaponless, although Seren assured her that he could fight just as easily with rocks as he could with knives. Merryn was pretty sure that he'd be better with a knife, of course, but that wasn't possible now.

She raised her hand and told Regah to roost in a tree. It wasn't necessary for her to order the mutt with her voice; the Mutticator had linked them mentally as well. She couldn't understand the mutt's thoughts, but he understood her orders and followed them to the best of his abilities.

Merryn knew that it couldn't last. They had an advantage over the other tributes, even though it had been one the Gamemakers had provided. Who knew how long until the Gamemakers sent something after them? Although, now that she thought about it, there'd been two deaths this night. The Capitol had experienced an eventful evening. She doubted that the Gamemakers would need to try and kill them in some horrible way at this moment, which was good because she needed a rest.

She closed her eyes and immersed herself in her mutt completely. She was suddenly looking out from three yellow eyes, covered in feathers, and dangerous. She threw her head back with a screech; it was so much easier to control Regah when she put herself in his head. Of course, it was dangerous to leave her body empty, but she was hungry and Regah was a better hunter than she was.

She spread wings that technically weren't hers and jumped into the air, having Regah beat his wings. Looking out through the yellow eyes, she spotted a fat squirrel almost immediately and ordered Regah to go after it. The mutt shot through the branches and snatched the squirrel in one cruel talon, breaking its chubby neck. It squealed in pain and went limp, and Regah snatched it in his beak, crunching down on the delicate bones of its skull and crushing them.

She sighed through Regah's beak; mostly she let the mutt control his own body but occasionally she'd take over for a spin. She did that now; spreading her wings and soaring blithely through the air towards her still body and dropping the dead squirrel in her own lap. She let her grip on Regah's muscles go slack, and Regah screamed and dove for the ground in a dizzying spiral that was all the more fascinating when she could see it from his point of view. With an easy snatch, Regah grabbed some sort of fat vole in his claws and landed clumsily on the ground, starting to tear at the vole with his beak before Merryn admonished him firmly. The mutt turned and waddled towards her, dropping the dead animal next to the squirrel. She took the chance to observe herself through another's eyes; her black hair, green eyes, and sharp features made her look alien, like another race of human altogether. With a feral screech, she let go of Regah completely and her awareness flooded back into her own body.

She'd never really felt beautiful before, but now, sharing her consciousness with another creature completely, she found that she did. How strange.

She risked a glance at the sleeping Seren. His white-ish hair flopped over his kind eyes, hiding them from view. She smiled gently. Seren… She really cared about him. She hadn't known him for long, but already he was the best friend she'd ever had, rivaling even her friend from back home in District Five, Sabria Shane. She missed Sabria dearly, especially since she was transferred to District Nine, but if she was the victor she could probably go back and visit as often as she liked.

Of course, to be the victor, Seren would have to die. Merryn honestly couldn't imagine anything worse than a situation in which Seren would have to die. Even worse was one where she would have to kill him, or he would have to kill her.

She pushed the thoughts away. The odds of that happening were dismally low. In fact, it was more probable that neither of them would win.

Funny how that was comforting to her now.

* * *

><p>Arista had recently regained the use of her mouth, and she was driving James nuts.<p>

Of course, he was secretly quite glad that she could talk again. He wasn't about to tell her that, though. She seemed to be strangely angry at him for some reason lately, and had taken to shutting her eyes and feigning sleep whenever he approached her. And when he actually managed to get her to open her mouth, she usually said something rude to him and closed her eyes again.

_I don't understand it, _he thought, smoothing his hair in confusion. _What's she angry about? That I didn't save her from getting poisoned? Maybe that's it, _he thought anxiously. _Well, I'm going to have to make it up to her. _

Getting her some drapeweed would be nice, but apparently the Gamemakers didn't want to make things easy for James and his ally. That meant that he was out scouring the forest for a hint of drapeweed and Arista was holed up in a tree, completely unable to defend herself. James hated leaving her alone, but if they wanted food or the precious plant, it was pretty much necessary.

He stooped over and plucked a seedling from the ground, examining the leaves closely before tossing it away in frustration. According to Arista, drapeweed was a dark green, arrow-headed leaf with a purple rim. It seemed pretty distinctive, but James hadn't seen anything like it.

With a sigh, the teen slumped down on the ground, swiping at his forehead to diffuse the slight sheen of sweat that had gathered there. He looked hopefully at the sky, but no silver parachute bearing gifts came winging down. No doubt the concoction that had saved Arista's life had cost a ton of money; there was practically no chance that a sponsor was going to spend that much money on a tribute that was probably just going to die anyway.

_I need to do something, _he thought. _I need Arista to know that I actually am sorry, seeing as I can't do anything else._

There wasn't much to give an unhappy girl in the forest, James mused. Unless Arista would be happy with a twig, he didn't really have a lot of options. Not to mention the fact that he hadn't even managed to find the two of them a decent breakfast. It was early morning now; pale light filtered between leaves, dappling the grass below James' feet. The boy from District One had appeared in the sky last night, and a few hours after that there'd been a cannon, and another two hours more. _Two more died, _he thought. _I actually made it to the final twelve. Bravo, Master James. If you can make it this far, surely you can make it to the end._

With the thought still ringing in his mind, he spotted the flowers. They were technically weeds; things they had in plenty back in District Eleven, but here in the arena there weren't many flowers. These were delicate white things with pale petals splashed with yellow. James grinned and plucked a fistful, placing them inside his jacket pocket.

He turned and headed back in the direction of the tree he'd left Arista, keeping a sharp eye out for any possible sources of food as he did so. At one point he delighted to discover a tiny stream filled with small fish behind a bush, and plucked out handfuls of the shimmering silver creatures before they knew what had hit them. He stuffed the still-wet fish in his pocket next to the flowers and hurried, now anxious to be back near his friend and ally and… Well. Was he ready to call her his love, yet? He didn't know. James had never truly been in love before. He'd been interested in girls before, and they'd been interested in him. But love was another thing entirely, and James didn't really know what he was feeling, at the moment.

So much for love.

He stepped into a grove he recognized and looked up, seeing Arista firmly wedged in the fork in a tree where he'd left her. "Hey, Arista!" he called, setting his hands against the bark and starting to climb.

"Hey…" the girl responded. James swung up onto her branch and grinned at her. Her face remained impassive, but James was sure if she could move it she'd be smiling at him. Well, maybe not. Arista was more of a scowl kind of girl.

"I got us some breakfast," James said, producing the fish. A few of them wriggled against his palm, but most had long since died. Arista tracked the movements with her eyes coolly.

"Thanks, James," she said, opening her mouth. He could tell that she hated being fed, but it was necessary to keep her alive. He could tell too that she hated being helpless, and lately she'd been acting weird around him, like maybe she hated him too. But that couldn't be it, could it? Arista didn't hate him. Sure, she thought he was annoying and an asshole, but that was very different than hatred.

So what was going on?

He finished with the fish and immediately produced the flowers, grinning at her cockily. "For you, princess," he said, reaching forward and brushing the hair out of her face.

"Don't call me princess," she muttered, avoiding his gaze. He dampened somewhat, but recovered quickly, leaning forward to thread one of the flowers through her hair, behind her ear.

"You look lovely," he commented. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure," she said sarcastically, eyes flitting away from his own. He sighed. This apology was not going well; he might as well get right to the point.

"Look, Arista," he began. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm incredibly sorry." She looked confused. "For not saving you from the poison," he exclaimed. "I noticed that lately you seem to be annoyed with me, and you're totally right; I should have done better in that fight… Why are you looking at me like that?"

Arista rolled her eyes. "You're such an idiot, James," she sighed.

James' eyes flashed. "An idiot?" he asked. "Might I remind you that the first time we met you were being beaten by a pig?"

"Shut up, James."

"Will do, princess."

"Anyway," Arista continued, giving him a look. "That's not why I'm mad at you."

"Really?" James asked. "Then why?"

She looked away. "I'm afraid," she muttered, ashamed.

James leaned closer to her, so close that the skin of his forehead was pressed against her silky hair. "Afraid of what?" he murmured.

She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. "Afraid of loving you," she whispered, so imperceptibly that he doubted the cameras would have been able to pick it up.

He pressed closer. "Is that so?" he breathed. His insides were boiling; so she liked him after all. "Well, we'll have to remedy that."

The kiss started out gentle, but James couldn't help himself; he pressed her still form to his chest in a moment of passion, tongues entangling in their mouths. She didn't pull away, not that she could, but he figured by the ecstatic light in her eyes that she was enjoying herself just as much as he was.

He laid her down back in her fork, smoothing his now-rumpled hair and breathing deeply. "There," he said, looking at her. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Arista stared at him, and then she gave him a tiny smile. "No," she admitted. James grinned in triumph.

Both of their heads jerked up at the sight of a silver parachute floating down from the sky. James whistled and snatched it from the air, his stomach giving an appreciative growl at the sight of a dark loaf of bread sprinkled with seeds and shaped like a crescent. His heart twisted and he glanced at the sun. "Thanks, guys," he told his district, breaking the bread into small portions as he did so. "I appreciate it."

He looked at Arista with a wolfish smile. "Say," he said, sidling closer to her. "I think maybe the Capitol likes it when we kiss. Look what we got!"

"What are you proposing?"

He grinned. "Maybe we should kiss more. You know, for the audience."

"Right," Arista said. "The audience." James leaned in.

"Are you complaining?" he asked, pressing his nose to her own. "Better stop that." He pressed his lips against hers and the complaints died to a satisfied murmur.

Yep, it was official. He was in love, and damn it, he was happy.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm very sorry, thatsthetruth. I had to kill Soleil... and that's the truth.<strong>

**That was really lame; sorry.**

**TRIBUTE WATCH!**

**Echo Garnett  
>At the fprest near the base of the mountain; uninjured<br>Kills: Rorie Jameson (BB character)**

**Mela Servitore  
>Hiding in the forest near the ruined village; four tracker jacker stings and three leech mutt bites<br>Kills: Cypress Lockhart**

**Rylla Stevens  
>At the center of <strong>**the village with Rosie, Fang and Garnet; stab wound in shoulder  
>Kills: None<strong>

**Dillon Murphy  
>In the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain with Lysemet; scorched leg and slash in arm<br>****Kills: Qwiss Qwail (BB character)**

**Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow  
>In the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain with Dillon; two chopped-off wings, one pecked-out eye and one punctured eye- blind<br>Kills: Hu Phang (BB character); Saber Anderson**

**Seren Alyona  
>In the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain with Merryn; scratch on base of neck, smaller scratches everywhere else<br>Kills: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>In the valley with James; paralyzed<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Merryn Enya Night  
>In the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain with Seren; scratches on torso, stab wound in collarbone<br>Kills: Matt Grove**

**Garnet Painite  
>At the center of the village with Rosie, Fang and Rylla; gash over right eyebrow, painful eye socket<br>Kills: None**

**Rosie Fullmoon  
>At the center of the village with Rylla, Fang and Garnet; strip of flesh missing from arm, same arm halfway cut through and infected<br>Kills: None**

**James Austin Mocking  
>In the valley with Arista; stab wound in the sole of the foot, five slashes across face and one on the side of the head<br>****Kills: None**

**Fang  
>At the center of the village with Rylla, Rosie and Garnet; uninjured<br>Kills: Blame Iemm (BB character), Soleil Nike Callwyn**

**That's all for this week; can't wait for next Sunday!**

**And wow, only half of the tributes are left. The final eight is getting tantalizingly close...**


	17. Breaking the Bonds of Trust

**Hey guys!**

**Before I start the story, I have an official announcement to make. Skip the announcement, and all the dead tributes will come back to life and take over the world (it's that serious!)**

**Here's the announcement:**

**WARNING. The following chapter contains TWO deaths. And the ending is filled with angst.**

**I hope you read the warning!**

**Byeweee!**

* * *

><p>The mountain was directly ahead of her, but Echo didn't think she was going to climb.<p>

No, she definitely wasn't. The fact that there was dried blood all over the white rocks at the base of the mountain pretty much made her decision for her. She didn't know what had fallen, but something had definitely met a painful end on that mountain, probably a mutt of some sort, judging from all the blood. And if there were mutts up there, it just wasn't worth it.

She strode over to the base of the rocks interestedly, her boots crunching through the dried blood. She scuffed at it for a bit before sighing and flopping onto the rocks, tossing her trident to the side with a clang. It skittered across the rocks for a moment before dipping into a gap between them. She heard a muted thump, and rolled her eyes, sliding across the rocks until her feet were dangling down the hole. She pushed off and fell in with a tiny gasp; her trident had hit the bottom of a tiny space underneath the rocks.

As Echo was kneeling to retrieve it, she noticed the tunnel. It wasn't a particularly big tunnel but it seemed as though she would fit. She narrowed her eyes. _It probably isn't the best plan in the world to go wandering into any random tunnel that I see, _she thought. _Still, I might as well check it out. I may not be able to turn around in it but I can always walk backwards._

She reached into one of her three packs, pulling out a flashlight which she switched on. The beam of light illuminated the inky darkness of the tunnel, showing a close place filled with stone and cobwebs. "Doesn't seem too dangerous," Echo muttered aloud, clamping the flashlight between her teeth. The light glowed against one of the tunnel walls and she shuffled in, shoving her trident between her back and her packs.

Each little shuffle forward was slow, but she felt as though she were getting somewhere, perhaps somewhere safe she could hole up for a few days. The competition in these Games was getting worse; the girl from five and Landon and Soleil had all died yesterday. If both of the tributes from District One had been offed so easily, things were getting heated.

Echo's back shuddered and she fell on her face, wincing at the sudden pain. _Crawling around in this stupid tunnel sucks. Maybe I should just go back… _She pushed her hands underneath her chest and shoved herself up, her trident clanging loudly against the stone walls of the tunnel. The sound echoed off the walls, traveling ahead of her until it faded out completely.

Echo was suddenly gripped with an odd sense of foreboding. She went perfectly still, listening for any sounds. She couldn't hear much, save for a tiny swishing sound that seemed to be coming closer…

She gave a shrill cry when the first of the spiders crawled into the beam from her flashlight. It was a tiny little thing, no bigger than her thumbnail, but it appeared to have been followed by a few thousand of its companions. She immediately shuffled backwards as fast as she possibly could, trident smacking against the tunnel walls every so often and putting the spiders into a greater frenzy. They sped up to match her pace, and the first of them crawled onto her fingertips and stayed there, latching onto her skin with sharp little pincers and tearing off miniscule portions of her flesh. Echo could understand how they worked now. If she got engulfed by the swathe of spiders completely, they'd consume her entire body, and slowly, too.

"I'm not ready to die yet!" she yelled, throwing herself backwards a few more feet. She thought she could feel cool air on the back of her legs, signifying that she was almost there. A few hundred more little spiders began to coat her hands, and she bit her lip as the pain increased to a shrieking fervor. "Get off!" she growled, slamming her hands into the stone floor. She could feel the spiders on her palm being crushed, and gave a feral grin.

She realized that she'd made it to the tiny gap in the rocks just as a line of spiders latched onto her cheek. Unsteadily, she rose to her feet and scrabbled at the lip of the rock, desperate to get to higher ground before the spiders got her. She looked down to see them marching up her boots, and flailed her feet, sending a few of them flying.

She felt the rim of the rock and pulled herself up, rolling onto her side and down the rocks, away from the oncoming spider swarm. She waited for a moment, but none of them seemed to want to follow her and leave the safety of the rocks.

Turning her attention to her hands, she slammed them into the ground below her, crushing the freeloading spiders. A few of them still clung doggedly to her flesh, and she pulled them off, crinkling her nose in disgust. Her cheek was next, and she flattened them with a palm, yanking them off. Her cheek felt sore and pitted, and her hands were covered in tiny, bloody wounds. She flexed them, wincing as fresh blood oozed from the tiny cuts. Well, there was nothing else for it; she'd just have to deal with her first real injuries in the Games.

She looked up at the forest. Anything was better than this hellhole of a mountain. She jogged in the direction of the trees. Alright, so maybe she wasn't going to be able to hide away for a couple of days. Whatever.

She was still going to win, after all.

* * *

><p>Mela sat against a tree, munching on some bread thoughtfully. It was the first food her stomach really felt up to eating in a few days, ever since the tracker jackers… She squeezed her eyes shut. The tracker jackers had brought to life every nightmare she'd ever had. All of her fears, twisted dreams, and pretty much everything she'd never wanted to see had been displayed in those stupid hallucinations the tracker jacker's poison had given her.<p>

She licked her lips and glanced idly into her pack, well, packs now that she'd stolen a couple from the alliance in the village. They hadn't had many supplies; there was a needle and thread, some wooden bowl, a sheet of partially torn-up plastic, iodine, and a tiny bottle at the bottom of the back containing a few drops of a substance Mela couldn't identify. She opened the bottle and took a sniff and it made her so dizzy she nearly fainted; if that stuff was poison she wanted no part in it, unless she could somehow use it to kill somebody else. And, typically, there was no food. She was just finishing up the last of her bread, and the water bottle she's had originally only had a slight amount of water left.

She'd been out for far too long, but she'd managed to stay lucid long enough last night to glance up in the sky for the anthem. Ameth's had been the first face in the sky last night, and Mela had cried shamelessly. She didn't know what she'd expected to do if Ameth had turned out to be alive after all, but seeing her dead had made Mela miserable. The girl had spent most of the night curled up in a ball under the bush where the tracker jackers had first deposited her, shaking and occasionally crying. But with the morning came acceptance.

Ameth was dead. So was Matt. Saber was dead too; he'd been the first to die. In fact, as soon as Saber had died, their alliance had been at the beginning of the end. And Mela had thought it would last for so long.

"It's simple," she said aloud, talking around the last bite of bread in her mouth. "I'm going to have to win. For them. I can't look back now."

She swallowed her bread, and on an impulse picked up her water bottle and drained the remaining water in a few gulps. There; now she'd have to go out and find water for herself. Mela was done with sitting around. The tracker jacker stings had mostly recovered (they were now stiff lumps on her body, tender to the touch but not infected) and the leech mutt bites had never been that bad to begin with. She got to her feet and glance at the three packs before sighing and tossing all of her supplies into the largest one. Her knives went last, and she kept one in the pocket of her brown pants, ready to fight if need be.

She set out quietly, moving through the trees and trying not to be loud. The task was a difficult one; Mela was pretty clumsy and she knew it. She was good with the throwing knives, but hand-to-hand combat? Please. That could prove to be a problem later if she actually made it to the final battle, but right now she was only going to concentrate on finding food and water.

She cocked her head at the sound of rushing water. A grin flicked across her face. _Hello, water. _She jogged in the direction of the sound, licking her lips in anticipation. Pushing aside a few bushes that were in her way, she stepped forward and was treated to the sight of a little stream filled with crystal water and what looked to be clouds of little fish.

She knelt at the bank and scooped up some water in her bottle and the bowl, pouring the correct amount of iodine in both. She didn't really want to sit around waiting for the required half an hour, and after a bit of consideration shoved the purifying water under a bush, moving around the leaves and branches until the bowl and bottle were pretty well concealed. Straightening, Mela glanced up the stream. "I suppose I'll follow it for a bit," she muttered, shrugging up her pack. She scuffed a bit of grass near the bank as a marker of where her water was and set off, resolving to come back as soon as she thought thirty minutes were up.

The little stream led through a copse of old gnarled trees that Mela had to appreciate. The seemingly ancient wood of the tallest tree was dark and cool under her palm as she pressed her hand against it, breathing in the heady scent of damp earth. She felt alone in the world, and strangely safe for the arena. The whole place seemed deserted, which was something Mela liked. Of course, it was possible that the Gamemakers would get bored soon and send Mela some nasty surprise, but at the moment she didn't feel like it would happen.

She turned away and froze as she heard the sounds. She could recognize from the patterns and tones that it was someone talking, but how far away and who it was she could only guess. On instinct she flattened herself against the tree, fingernails digging into the soft bark in anticipation. The voice was getting louder, and she realized that it was a male voice, a charming voice that she honestly didn't recognize. The male got closer, and she realized that he was talking to himself.

"So Arista really does love me," he was saying, as he rounded the tree and headed towards the stream. He didn't even glance at Mela. She took the opportunity, inching around the tree as carefully as she could until she was facing the direction he'd come from. She grimaced as her toe snagged on a tree root and she tumbled to the ground bodily, but the tribute didn't come rushing back and she realized that he probably hadn't heard her.

Trembling, Mela got to her feet and jogged in the direction the boy had come from. Perhaps there would be some food at his camp that she could snag. Of course, he'd said something about Arista, which meant that Arista was probably waiting back at the camp, but maybe Mela could somehow sneak around her. Her stomach growled, and she glanced at it ruefully. Yeah, she was going to have to try.

She stopped suddenly as her roving eyes caught a flash of bright white coming from one of the trees above her. Unwillingly, she glanced up to see the white of a tribute's tee shirt lying in the crook of a tree. The tribute was facing up and probably hadn't seen her yet, but that could soon change. Mela growled at the sight of the packs nestled snugly in the tree next to the tribute. _Damn. There goes that plan._

She looked up again. The tribute, probably Arista, hadn't moved an inch from where she'd been before. _Maybe she's asleep? _A devious grin flicked across Mela's face, and she pulled the knife from her belt. _I may not be able to climb, but I bet I can still get her pack._

Working quickly and quietly, Mela pulled out her thread, bunching a few loops of it around the hilt of her knife. She took a few quiet steps back and aimed the knife at the pack before throwing her arm forward and letting the knife whistle through the air. It hit the pack dead center, just as she'd wanted, and she still had the thread attached to the hilt in her hand. She gave it an experimental tug, and the pack teetered on the edge of the branch for a minute before settling back in its original position. Mela gritted her teeth; sweaty hands tightening around the thread. She was going to get that pack or die trying.

Carefully, she gave the thread another gentle pull. The pack leaned forward, and Mela pulled again. She could feel the thread turning slack as the knife slipped out of the pack, but even as it began to fall the pack succumbed to gravity and began to fall as well.

Yanking the knife out of the way with her thread, Mela darted underneath the falling pack, arms extended. Unsurprisingly, it hit her in the face and she crashed to the ground with a throbbing chin. Moaning ruefully, she pulled the pack onto her shoulders and blinked as she looked up and realized that Arista _still _hadn't moved. _Okay, this is starting to get weird, _she thought. "Hey! Arista!" she called. Maybe a bad idea, but she had to know the truth. _Is Arista…? Could Arista be…?_

"You're not James, are you?" Arista asked, and Mela knew.

"You're paralyzed," she whispered, fingering her knife.

She heard Arista sigh. "Are you going to finish me off?" the girl asked. She sounded as though she were trying hard to be brave, and only barely succeeding.

Mela opened her mouth to affirm Arista's question when she heard the crackling of brush. _I guess James is her ally; looks like he's coming back._

"No," she said. "Not this time. But remember this: you owe me one, Arista." Before the girl could reply she was jogging away into the brushes, circling around James and heading back to her stream where her water would be waiting for her.

* * *

><p>Lysemet screamed.<p>

She'd been screaming quite a bit in the last day. Dillon had actually had the audacity to tell her to shut up once, so she'd bitten him. What had happened to the love that she'd felt for him, that one time on the top of the mountain?

Well. She'd told him that it had been a weakness. It _had _been a weakness. Now that she was blind, she could finally see that.

It was probably the most cruelly ironic thing on the planet.

She wasn't helpless. Far from it, in fact. Her hearing was amazing, and she could still hear her way around. Of course, her hearing didn't stop her from walking into trees and things. She still needed Dillon. There was a faint part of her that really wanted him around just because she wanted to be with him, but that part was almost gone now.

The crazy had taken over again. It was the darkness, Lysemet mused, that had really induced the change, but it didn't honestly matter _why _she was crazy again, did it? The point here was that Lysemet was back to her usual, nutty, singing self. That brief moment of lucidity had been refreshing, but hell, it was over. All she wanted to do now was kill. Kill, and show the Capitol just how much she loathed them.

Oh, no. She hadn't forgotten about the Capitol. The whole out of sight, out of mind phrase was clearly bullshit in this case. She couldn't see them, but she was waiting. She hadn't forgotten. Someday she hoped that she could forget; just fall into an endless bath of nothingness. Right now, however, she had to stay aware. She had to prove her point. And once her point was proven, well… Anything was possible.

She was sitting against a tree. She could feel the bark shifting against her still-sore back whenever she took a breath, but she couldn't see it. It was unnerving, truthfully. Her eyes burned and occasionally she could feel them weeping onto her cheeks; blood or something else, she didn't know. Dillon would come over whenever that happened and would wipe away whatever it was, saying soothing words and patting her cheeks until they were dry. The warmth of his flesh against her own always made her heart pound. She wanted him. She wanted him to kiss her and tell her how much he loved her. She didn't know if she'd reciprocate; it was just something she wanted. A foolish dream.

She sighed and heard Dillon shifting. She swiveled her head to where she guessed he was. "Where are we?" she asked.

"We're sort of close to the Cornucopia," Dillon said. "If you want, I can go over there and get us some supplies… I don't know how much will be left, but there could be something for your eyes."

"I want to come too!" she whined, getting to her feet. It was a bad idea, of course, but nothing was a good idea with two punctured eyes.

She heard him sigh. "Alright, Lysemet," he said, and she felt warmth rise to her cheeks as he took her hand. "Let's go."  
>They hadn't been walking for very long when the crunch of leaves under their boots changed into the heavy tread of grass and mud. "We're in the clearing, aren't we?" she asked.<p>

"Yeah," Dillon said. "Do you want to stay here, or…?"

"I'm coming," she told him firmly. She heard a tiny swish of air and assumed that he'd nodded.

They talked in silence now. Dillon seemed to be taking the loss of the lucid Lysemet very hard. She supposed he'd get over it eventually; after all, she'd still been a nut when he'd first started liking her. As for her, she would always like Dillon. Even if she had a strange, creepy love of him now, it was still love. _He should be happy with it._

He let go of her hand and she heard him moving through piles of supplies. "There's not too much," he informed her, and she flopped onto the wet grass tiredly. She could hear the wind rushing over the empty field, and pulled her jacket a bit tighter around herself. It was strange, being blind. She felt so weak.

Absentmindedly, Lysemet reached out. When she felt the prick of pain against her finger, she kept on pressing, smiling with a perverted delight as the skin of her forefinger slowly split apart. She could hear Dillon whipping around, and then he pounded over, grabbing her arm. "What was that?" he exclaimed. "You were slitting your finger with a spearhead!"

"I know," she said, and he dropped her arm after a moment. She imagined that he was still staring at her, and remained perfectly still until she heard him walk away.

And then went back to the spearhead. Because, honestly, she was crazy. And what else could a crazy person do, blind and helpless and utterly alone, except for a friend who liked her better when she was someone else?

At least her blood didn't judge.

* * *

><p>It was time.<p>

Rylla didn't want it to be time already, but like it or not, she'd made the decision to end the alliance at the final twelve, and last night had shown her that it was the final twelve. She ran a hand through her blonde hair worriedly. She'd been agonizing over this decision for a while now, so much so that even Garnet had commented on it. The worst part about the whole thing was that Garnet had seemed sincere when she told Rylla to get better. Rylla hadn't liked Garnet at first, but she'd grown on her.

Killing her was going to be difficult.

She glanced at her alliance. Fang was sitting next to her with an arm around her shoulders, Rosie was leaning against the well, looking feverish, and Garnet was hunched over next to Rosie, watching the girl anxiously. Rylla's brow creased. Garnet posed the most dangerous to her out of all the other tributes in her alliance. She was going to have to get the girl out of the picture first.

"Garnet," she called, wriggling from under Fang's arm and going to sit next to Garnet.

"Yeah?"

"Look," Rylla said, leaning in confidentially. "Rosie's not getting any better, is she?" Garnet looked at the cobblestones and shook her head.

"I think she's going to die soon, honestly," Garnet admitted, swallowing hard. Both of them looked at Rosie. Rylla had to admit that the girl didn't look good. She'd complained a lot of her arm burning, and eventually they'd decided just to chop the rest of the damn thing off, in hopes of making it better. That apparently hadn't been a good idea, because her arm stump was still infected, and it was slowly killing her.

"You know," Rylla said. "I think I know of something that might save her." Garnet's eyes were hopeless, but they flickered a little at Rylla's words. "It's a plant," Rylla lied, looking over at Rosie. "It's got think leaves with a yellow tinge to them, and it grows in big clumps."

Now there _was _hope in Garnet's eyes, however hard she tried to hide it. "Do you think it grows here?" she asked, sounding nervous, but excited too.

"I'm pretty sure I saw some by the cave where we met you," Rylla said. "I think you should go get it; I can stay here and make sure that Rosie doesn't die while you're away."

Garnet nodded mechanically, and Rylla could imagine the thoughts numbing her brain. "I'll go," she promised, getting to her feet. She leveled a smile at Rosie, who appeared to be in a fevered sleep, and gave Fang a half-smile before jogging away down an alley, vanishing from view.

Rylla leapt into action as soon as she was gone. "Fang," she said, getting to her feet. "I think I'm going to go look for food in one of the houses. Is that okay?"

Fang shrugged. "Sure," he said, looking at her with devoted eyes. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Rylla shook her head nonchalantly, picking up Rosie's spear. "I'll take this," she said. "You should stay and watch Rosie, okay?" Fang nodded.

Rylla turned away and hurried, picking an alley different from the one Garnet had chosen. She didn't have much time; eventually Garnet would come back, defeated and worried, because she couldn't find a plant that didn't even exist. Rylla had to be ready before she did.

She picked a door at random and pushed it open, stepping inside an old dusty room. She ignored the furniture and cabinets, going immediately to the carpet under the bed. It wasn't much, but it would have to do. She _was _an excellent weaver, after all.

Picking apart the threads that bound the carpet together was no easy task, but it was something Rylla had always been good at. They were thick, sturdy and thoroughly rope-like fibers, perfect for her purpose. It took almost an hour to get them all apart, and she had to take a five minute break to go back to Fang and tell him that she wasn't having any luck finding food and would have to keep searching. But eventually she was finished. A pile of thick fibers lay in front of her. She picked one up and shook it idly. It was going to make a wonderful net.

Tying the net together took a lot less work than taking the rug apart, and in a half an hour she had a decent net lying in front of her. It didn't have to be that good, anyway. All it had to hold was Fang, and only for a few seconds, at any rate. The poison on the tip of Rosie's spear would kill him quickly.

She walked to the posts of the door and affixed the next to it, making the fibers attaching the net to the wood loose, so it would wrap around anyone who tried to run through it. As an afterthought, she opened the cabinets and found two heavy-looking glass jars, tying them to the end of two of the fibers to drag Fang to the ground. It wasn't much of a net, but it would serve its purpose.

She sat down on the edge of the bed, tracing the patterns of light through the windows for a moment. This was it; there was no turning back. She picked up Rosie's spear and leaned against the wall next to the door, where she was invisible from the outside. The she opened her mouth and screamed.

Her throat became sore rather rapidly, but she continued to scream when she heard Fang's pounding footsteps. She waited in agony while he tried to pinpoint her voice, and then sighed internally as he wrenched open her door and stumbled directly into her trap.

The net wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his sides. The glass jars banged against the back of his knees and he crashed to the ground, cursing. He looked up furiously, and then his eyes dimmed in confusion as he saw Rylla standing over him, holding Rosie's spear. To her surprise, however, he stopped struggling and looked at her.

He cleared his throat. "This is it," he said. There was no anger in his voice, only sadness and a bit of hurt. Rylla swallowed. This _was _it; the moment that she realized that she really had loved this boy in front of her, the boy she'd brought to the ground.

"Yeah," she said.

"I don't understand," Fang admitted. "I thought you loved me."

Rylla felt the tears pricking her eyes. "I did. I do."

Fang nodded as best he could with the restraints wrapped around him. "Ah," he said. "Yeah. I think I get it, now."

Tears were flooding her eyes now, and she didn't even bother to check them. She lifted the tears and looked into the grey eyes of a boy she could never hate.

Fang looked back at her unwaveringly. "Are you going to kill Rosie?" She nodded. He sighed. "Garnet?" Another nod. "Rylla," he said. "Good luck. I guess I'll be seeing them, then. Wherever I go."

She gave him a half-smile. "Maybe you'll see me too."

He shook his head fiercely. "I don't ever want to again," he said, and for a moment a pang of hurt wafted through her before she remembered that she was the one about to kill him. "I don't ever want to see you," he continued, "because then I'll know you won."

There was nothing more to say. She'd broken his silence, broken his trust, broken… him. There was nothing more to break.

She raised the spear over his heart. "Bye, Fang," she managed to choke, through the tears flooding her face. "Love you." His expression didn't change as she stabbed the spear through his heart. Even as his cannon boomed, he stared up at her, sad and a little bit hopeful, too.

She stripped the clawed glove off of his hand, but left the spear embedded in his heart. She wasn't sure how the hovercraft would get it, and in the end grabbed the body under the armpits and dragged it out into the street. _You're welcome, Capitol. _

She headed for the center, not even bothering to hide her tears. She wiped a few away half-heartedly with the back of her hand as she entered the base. Rosie was still leaning against the well, dead to the world. The girl's forehead was covered in sweat, and her lips moved soundlessly, responding to whatever it was she was dreaming about.

The girl's body didn't even protest when Rylla slit her throat with Fang's glove. Blood leaked down to her collarbone and her head thudded onto her chest. For a moment, nothing, and then there was a cannon. _I did her a favor. I did all of them a favor…_

She looked up at the sound of running feet to see Garnet stumbling into the village, holding her sides. "I got… the plant…" she gasped, and froze as she took in the sight of Rylla kneeling next to Rosie's body, covered in her blood.

Garnet's slight hesitation was all Rylla needed. She took off down an alley, not sure how she was going to deal with the tracker jackers to get away, but not considering staying in the center of the village even for a second. There was something in Garnet's eyes that was unforgiving; killing her was going to be too tricky right now. "ROSIE!" she heard Garnet scream, and then the girl gave a wail like a wounded animal. _She'll be coming after me soon, _Rylla thought. _Better run faster._

She zipped past the tracker jacker so fast they didn't have time to process the fact that she'd ever been there. One got her on the side of the neck; well, she couldn't really get out of at least one sting. She'd done pretty well, actually, all things considering.

She slowed down when she reached the trees, heart pounding. Garnet would be mourning Rosie and Fang for a few minutes, no doubt. Long enough for her to catch her breath.

_That's two I've killed, _Rylla thought, staring at the village. _Two. And both were my allies. I'm a monster._

She turned away and jogged into the underbrush, with the words still floating mockingly in her head.

* * *

><p><strong>Long chapter, huh?<strong>

**.**

**Yeah, I must say that I'm sorry. To Thelosthungergames, for Fang, and to andhesaidalways, for Rosie. Both were wonderful tributes; letting them go was very (sniffle) emotional. Especially Rosie, because she was your only tribute, andhesaidalways!**

**TRIBUTE WATCH...!**

**Echo Garnett  
>At the forest near the base of the mountain; chewed-up hands and cheek<br>Kills: Rorie Jameson (BB character)**

**Mela Servitore  
>In the forest near James and Arista; four tracker jacker stings and three leech mutt bites<br>Kills: Cypress Lockhart**

**Rylla Stevens  
><strong>**In the valley near the ruined village; stab wound in shoulder  
>Kills: Fang; Rosie Fullmoon<strong>

**Dillon Murphy  
>At the Cornucopia with Lysemet; scorched leg and slash in arm<br>****Kills: Qwiss Qwail (BB character)**

**Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow  
>At the Cornucopia with Dillon; two chopped-off wings, one pecked-out eye and one punctured eye- blind<br>Kills: Hu Phang (BB character); Saber Anderson**

**Seren Alyona  
>In the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain with Merryn; scratch on base of neck, smaller scratches everywhere else<br>Kills: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>In the valley with James; paralyzed<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Merryn Enya Night  
>In the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain with Seren; scratches on torso, stab wound in collarbone<br>Kills: Matt Grove**

**Garnet Painite  
>At the center of the village; gash over right eyebrow, painful eye socket<br>Kills: None**

**James Austin Mocking  
>In the valley with Arista; stab wound in the sole of the foot, five slashes across face and one on the side of the head<br>****Kills: None**

**That's all for this week. Make sure to remember the two tributes that died today... They were awesome. And don't forget everybody else who died! They were awesome too.**


	18. You've Won, You Bastards

**Hey guys!**

**This chapter is another with two deaths, and it has half of the interviews at the end; the remaining half will come next chapter. I also have some sad news: this story is going to be over pretty soon! I'm either going to have three more or four more arena chapters, including the final battle. Actually; you guys should tell me which number you want in your reviews; three more or four more!**

**We're almost at the end, you guys! *wails**

* * *

><p>Seren crossed his legs and drummed his fingers on his shin. There hadn't been much going on in their neck of the woods lately, and he was waiting for things to get started.<p>

Merryn and Regah were gone. The two of them had gone hunting again, although Seren could honestly say that he had plenty of food and wasn't exactly starving for any more. He had begun to suspect that Merryn just liked going out with Regah. He didn't know what it felt like to be linked with such a creature, but she seemed to enjoy it.

He sighed, dangling his legs over the tree branch. He didn't honestly feel comfortable with Merryn wandering around all by herself out there. Yes, she had Regah, but even the mutt wouldn't be able to do much if she was attacked by multiple tributes.

Seren grumbled in frustration, dealing the tree a tough blow with his boot. His heel stung but he brushed away the pain impatiently. Merryn had been gone for over an hour now. What was taking her so long?

He slid off the tree branch and landed in a crouch on the ground. Getting to his feet, he glanced at the silent woods around him. Nothing out of the ordinary. He half-hoped that something would pop out at him, just for something to do. The Capitol was toying with him; heightening the suspense until he wanted to scream. For all Seren knew, Merryn could be caught in a trap right now, being slowly tortured to death, and he wouldn't know her fate until her face appeared in the sky.

"I'm done with this," Seren grumbled. He started in the direction Merryn had left him, grass crunching under his boots. "I'm going to go get her."

He hadn't even made it to the tree line when he heard the pound of running feet, and Merryn whipped by him so quickly she was a human-shaped blur. Her shoulder caught him in the chest and he stumbled, falling to his knees. She seemed to have noticed his plight and stopped in her tracks, whirling around in a spray of dirt. "Get up, Seren!" she screamed, coming forward a few paces before the girl from District Two exploded out of the bushes.

The girl caught Seren kneeling in the grass with one green eye and pulled back her right arm, raising a glittering silver trident high in the air. Seren rolled to the side and felt a swathe of air run over him as the trident missed him by centimeters and embedded itself in the earth. He went for the shaft but the girl kicked him in the head, hard, and he thudded down, ears ringing.

The girl held her trident over his throat, but screamed and dropped it as something flapped out of the trees, diving straight for her eyes. Seren covered his throat and head with his arms and felt one of the prongs of the trident pierce his flesh before the weapon fell to the grass next to him. He scrambled to his knees again and gasped as the girl from Two slashed a knife at Regah, who was clutching at her throat with its talons. The bird mutt gave a terrible scream and released the girl from Two, at the same instant Merryn shrieked in pain, clutching at her front. "What is it?" Seren gasped, but Merryn only shook her head, squeezing her sides as though she'd been slashed down the middle. Seren couldn't see any blood.

He took a step towards her and froze as pain lanced down his side. Unwillingly he glanced down to see that the girl from Two had slashed his arm with her trident. Three parallel gashes ran down his pale skin, already oozing blood. The girl scowled and raised the trident for another swing. Seren threw himself backwards, barely avoiding the blow. He landed hard on his back next to a feebly stirring Regah. The bird mutt was covered in sticky blood that matted its feathers together; the girl from Two had slashed it right down the middle. Seren scooped it up and pressed it against his chest at the same instant the girl from Two's trident slammed into the ground where Regah had been laying.

_Why would she target Regah? _Seren thought, jumping backwards to avoid another blow from the girl. _It's already finished anyway. This girl should be worrying about Merryn… _Merryn!

"You feel its pain, don't you!" he called to his friend. She was lying in the grass and now the girl from Two advanced towards her, wielding the trident. "Don't you!"

"…Yes," she choked, face sickly pale. "I think… I'm dying."

"Don't be stupid!" Seren yelled; jumping on the girl from Two's back. She snarled and tried to grab him, and he realized what a stupid decision he'd just made. "Ack!" he yelped, releasing her and falling to the ground. She turned around and drove the trident down, somehow managing to get it in the space between his arm and his torso. He pulled away and scrambled to Merryn, still holding Regah securely against his chest. The mutt made a whimpering sound and he stroked the feathers on the top of its head anxiously. Merryn gave a throaty sigh and a small smile, closing her eyes. He managed to reach her and put an arm around her shoulders, looking fearfully at the girl from Two. She lifted her trident and narrowed her eyes, taking a step forward.

All three of them whipped around at the sound of the crackle of branches. Seren's eyes widened as Dillon Murphy and Lysemet C. Sprintyarrow wandered out of the trees. He winced; he'd hoped he'd never have to see Lysemet again. Her eyes looked horrific; crusted with blood and gapingly empty. Dillon grimaced when he saw the fight going on, and pulled a knife out of his belt.

The girl from Two changed tactics abruptly, charging at Dillon and Lysemet with her trident. Dillon let fly with one of the knives and it caught the girl from Two on the shoulder, she snarled and yanked it out before slashing her trident at him. He yelped, pushing Lysemet out of the way, and dodged, the trident embedding itself in a tree behind him.

Seren glanced down at Merryn. She was taking short, gasping breaths, and he realized with horror that if Regah died, she probably would too. Tearing his eyes away from Merryn's pale face, he turned the bird mutt over and examined its injuries. Other than the gash running the length of its feathered body, it seemed fine. Of course, the gash itself was horrific. It was bleeding freely, and getting Seren's hands wet. He grimaced, wiping them on his dirty white shirt.

"Hang in there, Regah," he begged, falling to his knees as a knife whipped past his head. The fight going on behind him seemed to be increasing in fervor; he could hear shrieking and several bouts of hysterical laughter coming from behind him, and then he felt a hand around his chest that he knew immediately wasn't Merryn's.

It was Lysemet, of course. Her fingers crawled across his chest and he stayed frozen, unsure of what to do. Her fingers stopped suddenly, directly over his pulsing heart, and pressed together. He choked as she thumped him soundly in the chest and he fell, heart shooting stabbing pains throughout his body. She may not have been able to see him, but she could still cause him pain. Regah gave a half-hearted screech and Lysemet's head whipped around at the noise. She lifted her foot and drove it towards Seren's neck, when she stumbled and fell on top of him, cursing under her breath. Seren looked up to see what had caused her to fall and groaned aloud.

"How many more?" he complained, wriggling out from under Lysemet as the girl from District Four lifted a spear and prepared to impale his district partner. Regah's wing looked a little bit squashed, but the mutt seemed otherwise okay. Leaving Lysemet and the girl from Four to battle it out, Seren raced back to Merryn, heart in his throat. Dillon and the girl from Two had moved their battle much closer to her than he would have liked. Ducking under Two's slashing arm, he grabbed Merryn around the chest and began to drag her away; ducking as Dillon's elbow hit him in the jaw. His head was beginning to ring again, but he ignored it. _You can't stop now, _he told himself. _Stop and you'll die._

Dillon gave an exclamation as Two's trident impaled his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he raised a knife and hurled it efficiently, catching the side of her neck as she dodged. The cut was fairly deep and bleeding down Two's neck, but she twisted her trident and Dillon moaned, falling to the ground. Seren, from his vantage point at the base of a tree a few feet away from either of the fights, noticed Lysemet's head whip around. She started towards Dillon, but the girl from District Four grabbed her by the hand, turned her around, and punched her squarely in the face. Seren heard a crunching sound and Lysemet' nose erupted in a stream of blood. The girl snarled and lunged again.

The girl from Two stood over Dillon triumphantly, leaning on the shaft of her trident, sending it deeper into his skin. He howled and kicked his legs, and she flopped down on him lazily, pinning him under her weight. "Sorry, kid," she said, pulling out the trident. Its tip was stained with dark red blood. "But if I'm gonna win, you're gonna have to die."

"_No!_" Dillon roared, slashing at her face with a knife no one had noticed him holding. The girl from Two screamed and pulled away and he wriggled out from underneath her. He was just getting to his feet when she snarled and pitched forward, the trident exploding from her hands and directly into Dillon's torso.

He stood frozen for a moment, jaw hanging open. His eyes began to dim and the girl from Two pulled her trident from his body, exposing the three giant holes she'd created. The boy's eyes filled with tears, and his lips moved. "Genevieve," he whispered, and hit the ground.

The cannon sounded at the same instant Lysemet put her hand out and the girl from Four ran into it, effectively putting herself out of the picture for the next minute or so. Instead of finishing her like Seren assumed she would, Lysemet turned in the direction of Dillon's body and took a step forward. "That was it," she said. "The last thing you took from me." She looked up at the sky. "Do you hear that?" she screamed, tears flowing from her wounded ducts. "You've won, you bastards, you've won!"

The moment was frozen. District Two was watching quietly, District Four was writhing in the grass, and Seren was trying to get Merryn up as inconspicuously as possible. Lysemet was shaking now, and her trademark laugh floated across the grass. "I hate you," she admitted. "I hate you so, so much. Always have. Always will. You know what you did to me, right?" She flung her hands out as though to encompass the world. "You made me a freak! A monster!" Her laughter turned hysterical and died down to a murmur suddenly.

"Wrong again," she admitted, kneeling down until her fingers closed around one of Dillon's discarded knives. Seren tensed, waiting for her attack, but she simply straightened up, turning the knife over and over in her hands. "There's one thing I have that's still mine," she admitted, grinning, and plunged the knife into her own heart.

Seren let out a startled gasp and nearly dropped Regah. Lysemet, still smiling, drove the knife in deeper. Blood dripped down her lips, and she gasped in exhilaration, it seemed. "Ha… ha…" she muttered, and slumped in on herself, falling to the ground at the same instant her cannon boomed.

The shock in the little glade was a tangible thing. Lysemet was dead; Dillon was dead… Merryn and Seren were still alive, and more importantly, they were still here. Time to be gone.

The girl from Four was already getting to her feet, looking upset. Two picked up her trident, and Four picked up her spear. Both of them sized each other up, completely ignoring Merryn and Seren for the time being. Seren wasn't going to pass up this opportunity.

He hoisted his taller friend onto his shoulder, already drenched in sweat. Seren Alyona was not built for carrying people, and Merryn was no exception. He ignored her weak whimpers and put the sodden mass of feathers that was Regah in one hand, being careful not to squeeze too hard. He could feel a tiny pulse thrumming against his sweaty palm, and breathed a mental sigh of relief.

He took a step forward. There was a cry from behind him, but he couldn't glance back to see what was going on. He heard a shrill scream and a grunt, and then he heard the sound of pounding footsteps. In a moment, another set of feet gave chase, and the glade was silent.

He sank to his knees, Merryn sliding off his shoulder and onto the ground, where she curled up unhappily. He bent over Regah, touching the bird's wound tenderly. It stirred and clacked its beak at his probing fingertips before going still tucking its head under its wing. For a moment, dread filled Seren, and he poked Regah anxiously, sighing as the bird mutt screeched. "Merryn?" he asked. A weak smile crossed the girl's face, and she blinked, opening her eyes.

"I'm here," she said, looking up at him. "Don't worry. I'm not going to die… that easily." Her eyes closed and she appeared to drift off to sleep, blocking him out completely.

Seren sighed, placing Regah in his lap tenderly. His head ached, his arm was still bleeding and all he wanted to do was fall asleep for a long time. But he couldn't do that. He had to watch over her.

He groaned and buried his face in his hands, ignoring the pricking behind his eyes. "Oh God," Seren said. "Oh God, oh God. What am I going to do?"

* * *

><p>Sylivia couldn't help herself; when she watched Lysemet crumple to the ground she let loose with a shrill scream of triumph.<p>

"I _told _you she wouldn't make it to the final eight!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down on her pink comforter. "Now you owe me five hundred zenz!"

"No way, Syl," Xanaz said, flipping her purple hair. "Lysemet made it to the final nine. That's, like, the same thing."

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!" Sylivia exclaimed with a flourish, jumping up and down on her bed excitedly. "And you know it!"

Xanaz sighed. "Fine," she exclaimed, rolling her purple irises. "I'll pay you back on Monday."

"Great!" Sylivia squealed. She flopped belly-first onto her bed, hanging her face near Xanaz's. "Wanna make another bet?"

"No," Xanaz pouted. Sylivia shrugged.

"Whatever," Sylivia said, slipping onto her plush pink carpet to join her friend. Both of them faced the television excitedly; Claudius Templesmith had just announced the fact that the interviews were about to get started. The Capitol worked fast; as soon as the fifteenth tribute died, the interviews started. Sylivia felt a knot of excitement settle in her belly; she couldn't wait until they got to James' family's interviews. Unbeknownst to Xanaz, Sylivia had sent James a sponsor gift, disguised as bread from his district. She didn't want it to be too obvious that she had a crush on him! After all, her boyfriend, Trent, would get _so _jealous if he found out. Sylivia spent most of her time rooting for James and praying for that stupid Arista bitch's death (although James was totally faking his romance with her, she hoped.)

"They're starting!" Xanaz pointed out, and Sylivia settled down obediently and watched the screen. They'd gone from the official Hunger Games Commentary Room to what looked like a house in District Two. Facing the screen was a short girl with black hair. "And this is Allium Rosekiss, Echo Garnett's best friend!" the green-skinned reporter gushed. Turning to Allium, the reporter jerked her hand up and down in an excited shake. "So, Allium," she said, leaning in as though the interviews were confidential. "How do you feel Echo is doing right now?"

Allium smiled, as though she were very, very happy with being on camera. "Well, you know, she's doing pretty well," the girl said, tossing her long hair. "I mean, she just killed that Dillon guy, so she's got a few kills now. That's pretty awesome."

"I know!" the reporter gushed, her purple lips moving excitedly. "You must have been totally cool with her volunteering, right?"

"Oh, totally," Allium said, nodding and flashing a smile. "She's gonna win, so I told her to go for it this year."

"Smart!" the reporter agreed, nodding emphatically. "So, Allium…" she leaned a bit closer. "How do you feel about Echo as a person? Do you think she's nice? Mean? Horrible, maybe?"

Allium shrugged. "Well, sometimes she can be, like, really self-righteous, but most of the time she's pretty cool. We _are _best friends." She flashed the cameras another smile, and Sylivia poked Xanaz in the ribs.

"Isn't she, like, _so _annoying?"

"Yeah, totally," Xanaz agreed, turning away from the screen. "She seems so shallow!" Both girls giggled.

"So you two had fights?" the reporter continued, and both Capitol girls turned back to the screen, interested in spite of themselves. _Wouldn't it be awesome if they did have fights? _Sylivia thought. _That would be so cool!_

"Little ones. They weren't so bad. But we're best friends," Allium said again, for emphasis.

"Echo must be very happy with such a supportive friend!"

Allium nodded sagely. "She totally is," she said. The reporter waved at the camera and started to say something, but was cut off as the picture turned abruptly into an image of a family crammed into a very small house. The Capitol reporter looked vaguely disgusted, as he barely sat on the seat and looked ready to bolt if anyone tried to touch him. "I'm here in District Three with the Servitore family," he said, looking regretful. Turning to a woman with long dark hair and a pinched expression, he forced a smile onto his face. "And how do you feel about your daughter at this moment, Emilia?"

"I think Mela is doing well for the situation she's in," Emilia said, avoiding the man's gaze. "I thought for sure she'd be done for when the tracker jackers attacked, but she made it through."

"Yeah, yeah," the reporter said, looking away from the now annoyed-looking woman and to the man sitting next to her on a threadbare couch. "And how about you, Sylvestre?" he asked. "As a previous victor, you must have a lot of feelings about this!"

Sylvestre shook his head mutely, and the reporter looked confused. "He can't speak!" Emilia snapped, suddenly. "His tongue was destroyed in his Games." Her eyes flashed, but Sylvestre put a hand on her arm and she stopped glaring at the reporter.

"Moving on," the reporter muttered, looking down at a young boy sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Do you miss your big sister, Sylvy?" he asked, turning away from the boy before he'd even opened his mouth to respond.

"Yeah," Sylvy said, looking at the man seriously. "I do; I love her a lot. When is she coming home? I hope soon."

"Me too, Sylvy, me too," the blue-haired reporter said, patting Sylvy's black hair with a grimace plastered on his face.

"What weirdoes," Xanaz commented, sticking her tongue out at the family on the screen. "They didn't seem excited for what's-her-face at all!"

"Totally crazy," Sylivia agreed, eyes glued to the screen as the image of the Servitores was replaced by that of a group of four girls and an older Capitol woman with frizzy green hair and an obviously fake figure. She was smiling at the girls, none of which seemed happy to see her. "This is Sierra, Breeze, Dew, and Sky, friends of Rylla Stevens," she said, introducing the girls. The one in front, Sierra, just nodded as her name was called, not even opening her hooded eyes. _Freak._

"So, Sierra," the reporter said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "How do you feel Rylla is doing right now?"

Sierra paused for a moment. "Poorly," she said, not opening her eyes.

The Capitol woman looked confused. "Could you elaborate on that?" she asked.

Sierra nodded. "Rylla killed the boy that loved her," she said, after a lengthy pause. "That was inexcusable."

"So you're not her friend anymore?" the Capitol woman asked, looking at the cameras to emphasize how important Sierra's answer was.

"… No," Sierra said, after yet another pause.

"What about you?" the Capitol woman asked, looking at Breeze. "How do you feel about it?" Breeze swished her orange hair and looked away.

"Sierra speaks for us," she said, closing her eyes lazily. "Speak to Sierra only." The Capitol woman now looked thoroughly freaked out.

"A-alright," she stammered, turning back to Sierra. "Was Rylla popular back in District Four, the District we're in now?"

Sierra shrugged curving shoulders. "Yes," she said simply.

"How popular?"

"Everyone liked her."

"And do you think that will change because of what she did?"

Sierra finally opened her eyes, and Sylivia was startled to see that they were a dark color, and full of rage and hate. "No," she said, in a low voice. "But amongst me and my sisters, it has changed her for us forever. If she returns to us we will not welcome her again."

"Well, this has been the friends of Rylla Stevens…!" the reporter said, looking uncomfortable.

"Oh my God, they were creepy," Sylivia exclaimed.

"I don't know," Xanaz said. "I thought they were funny."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"You're crazy!" Sylivia squealed, holding her sides. Both girls burst out laughing, shrieking so hard that they missed the beginning of Seren Alyona's interviews. Eventually Xanaz had to beat Sylivia brutally with a pillow to shut her up, and both girls turned to the screen.

"Do you think that your son has the smarts to win the Games?" a purple-themed reporter was asking a man sitting at a table next to a woman; Seren's parents, presumably.

The man didn't answer for a moment and was nudged by his wife. "Hm? Oh, right, Seren's smarts. He's always liked to daydream, so I guess he's pretty smart."

"We're very proud of him," the woman emphasized, nodding. "He's always gotten good grades in his classes."

"Would you say that he grew up well?"

Seren's mother bit her lip. "He's always been a sickly boy," she admitted, tracing patterns on the table with her finger. "He had to stay in bed a lot. He didn't get to go to school as often as he would have liked. But I think he grew up as best as he could have, given the circumstances."

"Would you say that you were really close with your son?" The reporter asked, grinning at Seren's father. The man twisted uncomfortably.

"I tried my best with Seren," he said. He looked as though he were going to say more, but then his eyes wandered away from the reporter's pretty face and into the recesses of his home. He looked as though he were deep in thought about something other than the Hunger Games and the fate of his son. _God, all these district people are lunatics. _

Xanaz reached for the remote suddenly and pressed a button, the television screen fading into blackness. "I'm bored," she announced. "Let's go meet up with Trent and Rocko for ice cream."

"No!" Sylivia whined, reaching for the remote. "I want to watch till the end!"

"Why?" Xanaz asked, and Sylivia bit her lip. _I can't tell her about James! _

"Never mind," she said, standing up and stretching her legs. "Let's go get some ice cream."

"Cool," Xanaz said triumphantly, getting up and tossing the remote on the bed. "So, do I still owe you five hundred zenz?"

"Of course!" Sylivia squealed, and, giggling, the two girls left the room and the fates of the eight remaining tributes behind them.

* * *

><p><strong>So howdja like the interviews? I loved writing from Sylivia's point of view; it was strangely fun! I don't think I'll be doing either her or Xanaz for the next interviews, though. <strong>

**And now, for the fateful goodbyes. First off, goodbye, Dillon Murphy, and I'm sorry, Lovemusic2. At least you still have the wonderful Garnet!**

**As for Lysemet... Goodbye, crazy mutt girl! You were awesome! Seriously! And I'm sorry, lookingpastmysadness. You know how much I loved Lysemet *wink, wink**

**T-T-T-TRIBUTE WATCH!**

**Echo Garnett  
>At the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain; chewed-up hands and cheek, stab wound in shoulder<br>Kills: Rorie Jameson (BB character), Dillon Murphy**

**Mela Servitore  
>In the forest near James and Arista; four tracker jacker stings and three leech mutt bites<br>Kills: Cypress Lockhart**

**Rylla Stevens  
><strong>**At the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain; slashed arm, bruised forehead  
>Kills: Fang; Rosie Fullmoon<strong>

**Seren Alyona  
>In the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain with Merryn; three gashes in arm<br>Kills: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>In the valley with James; paralyzed<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Merryn Enya Night  
>In the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain with Seren; stab wound in collarbone, phantom pains from Regah down her front<br>Kills: Matt Grove**

**Garnet Painite  
>At the center of the village; gash over right eyebrow, painful eye socket<br>Kills: None**

**James Austin Mocking  
>In the valley with Arista; stab wound in the sole of the foot, five slashes across face and one on the side of the head<br>****Kills: None**

**Ciao for now, chickies!**


	19. The Fight to End All Fights: Part Two

**Hey, everybody! I don't have much to say today, except to assure you that I have decided that I _will _be writing another SYOT after this. I'll also be writing two or three post-Games chapters, so we can celebrate our Victor. As for my new Games, I'll let you guys know when I post it.**

**On a side note, nobody dies today. And there's some Haymitch action. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Haymitch Abernathy's tongue trailed across the rim of the bottle, but there was nothing left, apart from a faint bitter tang which he was happy enough to receive.<p>

He tossed the bottle away behind his couch and heard the crash of glass imploding on itself and shattering into a thousand pieces. He sort of felt like that, strangely. After all, he'd just gotten home; his saving grace being the death of his final tribute, Fang. Was he happy about it? No, not really. But he found that there was an incredible numbness in his soul now that he couldn't seem to get rid of. He'd felt certain, for example, the he'd feel some sort of vindictive pleasure when Cypress kicked it (she'd smacked his bottle out of his hand, the bitch) but all he felt was emptiness. And when he'd seen Rylla Stevens weaving together her little net, the net in which she intended to entrap and utterly destroy her lover, he didn't even have the strength in him to hope.

It turned out that it was a good thing he hadn't hoped, because Fang had died anyway.

He only realized that the television was on when he heard the fast-paced Capitol voice and jerked up instinctively. Narrowing his eyes at the screen, he let loose with a string of cuss words. It wasn't good to fight the Capitol and would only lead to trouble, but cursing them in the privacy of his own home was something he couldn't resist. His hand drifted towards the remote before falling limp to his lap; this was technically mandatory viewing, and although no one was going to berate the Victor for not watching the interviews, he might as well. The only other thing he'd be doing today was sleep.

"Hello, district individuals, my name is Derren Rose and I- no, no, that's not it…" Haymitch snorted at the gangly, blue-haired boy onscreen; he was an idiot, but at least he was funny about it. The smokestacks of District Eight rose in the distance behind the reporter and his two guests, a man and a boy. Both looked uncomfortable, the man incredibly so.

"Good day, people of the Capitol, the name's Derren Rose and I give you the tributes of District Eleven- wait, what? Err, that's not it…" The man standing next to Derren rolled his eyes slightly, and Haymitch shook his head at the screen.

"Idiot," he said aloud, feeling the alcohol he'd had for lunch sloshing around uncomfortably in his belly. He'd probably have to go puke later; another thing to add to his nonexistent schedule.

"Aha!" Derren cried, apparently having figured out what the hell he was supposed to be saying. "Citizens of Panem, I present to you the family of Arista Ryans!" He paused, looking extremely proud of himself, before looking at the man. "Micah Ryans," he said, respectfully. "Do you think Arista is a pretty girl? Err wait; I'm pretty sure that wasn't what I was supposed to say…" He trailed off at the sight of Arista's father blinking back tears and looking everywhere but the camera. "Mr. Ryans!" Derren exclaimed, aghast. "Was it something I said?"

"She looks so much like her mother," Micah said gruffly. "That's all."

"Ohhh," Derren said, wisely. "Did something happen to her mother? Did she die or something?" Haymitch winced, even in his drunken half-stupor. _Tactless little runt. He may look my age, but I'm ten times more experienced in life than he'll ever be._

"Yes," Micah answered shortly. Derren waited for Micah to continue, but shrugged when the man didn't say any more and looked down at the boy standing next to Micah.

"So, Carson," he said. "Do you think your sister will win the Games? Or will she die a horrible death and never return?"

Carson's bottom lip flopped over in a pout. "She'll win," he said quietly, hugging himself as though he were afraid of breaking apart. Micah put a hand on his downy blonde hair as though comforting him.

"Okay… Any more questions…" Derren seemed to have run out of ideas. He shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, scratching his pale blue chin and screwing up his dark eyes in intense concentration. Carson and Micah stood there awkwardly, Micah still patting Carson on the head.

"I'VE GOT ONE!" Derren yelled, causing both Carson and Micah to jump. Carson's eyes were huge and he looked as though he wanted nothing more than to get away, but Derren was now staring at him, grinning in triumph.

"So, Carson," he said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Do you think Arista's new boyfriend is hot?" Carson stared. Micah, from where he was standing behind his son, stared. Haymitch, now frozen on the couch, stared. The whole country of Panem from whatever the hell they were doing probably stared.

Derren flushed, probably noticing the sudden lack of sound. "What? It was a valid question! I only wanted to know!" He continued rambling but the camera fizzled out to be replaced by the Capitol seal, which in a few minutes was replaced by a dark-haired girl standing next to a grinning golden reporter with a hand on her shoulder. "Greetings, Panem!" the reporter said, ignoring the clearly uncomfortable look the girl was giving him. "I'm here with Sabria Shane in District Five! Now, some of you might be wondering what I'm doing in District Five if the tribute I'm here to interview about is from District Nine!" He turned to the dark haired girl, smiling hugely. "I'll let Sabria here explain."

"I'm here to talk about Merryn," Sabria said, looking angry. "Merryn used to live here with me, but long story short she got transferred to District Nine because of some crazy shit with her dad."

"Well, isn't that nice," the reporter said, still smiling his hugely gigantic smile. "How would you say Merryn is doing in the Games, Sabria? Do you think she's going to win?"

Sabria rolled her eyes. "Of course," she said simply. "This is _Merryn_. She can't lose."

"I'm sure that's true," the reporter said, putting his arm around Sabria's shoulders. She cringed away at the touch, and Haymitch chortled at the expression on her face. "Now," the reporter continued, playing idly with a lock of her hair with one huge golden paw. "Are you dating?"

Sabria's eyes narrowed. "Pardon my language, but what the fuck does that have to do with Merryn?"

"Oh, it has a lot to do with Merryn," the reporter assured her, leaning down towards her ear to whisper something. Sabria's eyes widened and she grimaced as though she'd never heard anything more horrible in her life, and then she whipped around and slammed her foot as hard as she could into the guy's crotch.

"Eat my shit!" she proclaimed, marching away. As an afterthought, she whipped around. "And I would _never_ go on a date with a pervert like you!" She turned on her heel and off she went, the cameras following her into the distance of District Five.

When they turned back to the reporter, he was on the ground, clutching at his crotch as gracefully as he could. There were tears in his baby blue eyes, but he managed a smile at the camera. "This has been… Sabria Shane," he choked, and fell over, twitching spastically.

On his couch back home at District Twelve, Haymitch roared with laughter.

The image on the screen had switched to that of a slim golden-themed girl with huge amber eyes standing in between a tall woman and man, both with their arms crossed over their chests. Haymitch blinked; he recognized that woman, she'd been the Victor of the 22nd Hunger Games. He'd watched her whole Games in preparation for his, the 50th. In her Games she'd been a ruthless, vicious killer, allying herself with the Careers in a twist that no one had stopped talking about for days, and then killing every last one of them as they slept by stabbing them in the shoulder with a knife laced with some sort of paralyzing poison that kept them down as she slit their throats or chopped off their heads. When that was finished, she managed to get her hands on some sort of oil that she poured in a circle around the dead tributes, making them look as though they were sleeping. In this way she attracted three tributes to come and finish off the Careers, and set fire to the oil, trapping them in a circle of flames. Two were roasted alive, and the one that jumped through the flames died from a combination of burns and Opal's (that was her name, he thought) knife in his throat. After that it was the final two, and she hunted down the last tribute, who was asleep in a tree, and stabbed her in the heart. The Capitol had been unhappy with the anticlimactic ending, but the Districts had been thankful.

"I am here," the reporter was saying, "with the family of Garnet Painite. On my right is Beryl Painite, Garnet's father." The man gave a tight nod. "And on the left is Opal Painite, winner of the 22nd Hunger Games and mother of our tribute." The girl turned to Opal. "Considering your Games, how do you think Garnet is doing right now, Mrs. Painite?" she asked.

A frown furrowed Opal's brow. "I believe that Garnet is doing as well as she could be doing, at this point," she said carefully. "I know that she's angry with the girl from Four, Rylla Stevens, and going after her isn't the best thing to do right now, but I don't think Garnet will be able to stop herself." A faint smile tugged on her lips. "I want Garnet to do what she feels is right," she said. "Even if that means something that could get her killed."

"Do you agree, Mr. Painite?"

The man shook his head gruffly. "Garnet should be focusing on winning, not chasing after some little bitch, excuse my language. She has to keep the Painite name in these Games!"

"Do you think Garnet will be coming home, then?"

"Oh, undoubtedly," Beryl said. "She's tougher than all the rest of the tributes put together."

"I believe in my heart that if she wants to return to us, she will," Opal said. _Strange thing to say, _Haymitch thought. _Especially for a Victor. _His stomach growled uncomfortably, and he ran a hand through his curly black hair.

"Thank you for your time," the reporter was saying respectfully, as the camera lost focus and came back in a wheat field. There were two girls onscreen, a dark-skinned, exotic-looking girl with a kind smile, and a purple girl and black hair that fell to the small of her back, also smiling.

"Good day, Panem," the reporter girl said. "I'm here with Cassie, James Mocking's best friend!"

"Hello," Cassie said into the camera before turning and looking nervously at the reporter. "Um, am I doing all right?"

The reporter laughed. With her Capitol accent, it sounded like the wind chimes that Haymitch's mother had attached to the porch before the Capitol had taken her away. "You're doing fine," the reporter said gently. "Now I'm going to ask you a few questions. How do you think James is doing right now?"

"Oh, he's doing really well!" Cassie exclaimed emphatically. "I mean, at first I didn't know if Arista was good for him, but I think what they have going on is really sweet…" She trailed off suddenly, looking sheepish. "Sorry, that was a lot."

"No, it was good," the reporter assured her. "So, about Arista… You do know that only one of them can win, right? Do you think either of them will win? And if so, which one?"

Cassie bit her bottom lip, looking conflicted. "Well, I want Jam to come home," she said, eyes downcast. "But it just wouldn't be him if he let Arista die and saved himself."

"So you think that Arista will win?" the reporter asked softly, looking at Cassie with unwavering black eyes. Cassie shrugged.

"I guess we'll see, won't we?" she said, looking up with a twinkle of hope in her eyes. "But I'm not going to worry too much about James. He's a fighter."

The reporter smiled. "I'm sure he is," she said.

Haymitch blinked suddenly. All that alcohol felt as though any second it was about to make a reappearance. He clutched one of the armrests of his couch, trying to focus on the screen so the nausea would go away. Everything was turning fuzzy and indistinct. He saw the reporter's mouth moving and then the Capitol seal flashed onscreen, but he could definitely feel acid in his throat now and he knew he wasn't going to be able to sit through the annual interview commentary. He snatched for the remote and jammed his thumb onto a few consecutive buttons, swallowing hard to keep down the rising acid in the back of his throat. The television screen flicked to darkness, and he stumbled to his feet, one hand over his mouth. If he could only make it to the bathroom, he wouldn't have to clean up later.

The cool white tiles of the bathroom welcomed him just in time for him to puke all over the toilet, to his chagrin. He sighed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. So much for cleanliness.

* * *

><p>Arista had been asleep when the voice came.<p>

She recognized it immediately. What kind of a tribute would she be if she couldn't recognize the voice of Claudius Templesmith? It was late afternoon, almost twilight, and the possibly fake sun cast slanted bars of light across her immobile cheeks as she stared up at the sky, listening to the voice.

"Good evening, tributes!" Templesmith boomed. Arista wished she could narrow her eyes. _A feast_, she thought. _He's inviting us to a feast. _

"I would first like to congratulate the eight of you on getting so far in these Games. I'm sure it hasn't been easy!" He laughed, and Arista felt a spark of rage in her heart. How dare he speak to them like this?

She felt someone patting her shoulder, and knew it was James, back from hunting. There was a fat rabbit dripping blood on her thigh, but she let it slide; this was important. "Now, I'm sure you're all wondering what I'm talking to you for," Templesmith chuckled. _Not really. We all know it's a feast. _

"First things first: from this point on, none of you are allowed to kill each other." That spurred a reaction; James nearly dropped the rabbit on Arista, barely catching it. There was a low chuckle from the sky. "This is a very special feast," Templesmith continued. "Some of you are in desperate need of certain… items, and I can promise you that you won't be getting them any time soon, unless you participate. You do not have to come, of course, but no killing is allowed until I say. I'm sure I will see some of you at the Cornucopia." His voice disappeared.

Arista didn't even hesitate. "No, James," she said, but he was already sliding off the tree branch. "JAMES!" she shouted furiously, and heard his voice on the wind.

"I'm not going to die, Arista," he said. "Didn't you hear Templesmith? Right now, we can't fight each other." He chuckled. "I want to wake you up for good, princess," he said. "You won't even notice that I'm gone until I'm back."

"WAIT!" she called, but heard nothing. She gave a frustrated sigh, and shrieked as she realized that James had climbed back onto the branch.

"Aren't you going to give me a kiss for good luck?" He was teasing her.

"Don't do this, James," she begged. "Please."

James shook his head. "I have to," he said, simply. He leaned down, until they were mere centimeters apart. "I wish I could wake you up like _this_," he said, kissing her gently. She didn't realize that she was crying until she felt James wiping the tears away. "You must have no faith in me, huh?" He laughed.

She didn't think it was funny. "Please, James," she whispered. "Please don't go." He shook his head again.

"Love you, princess," he said, hopping off the branch. "I'll be seeing you." She heard the sound of crackling branches as he marched further and further away, and squeezed her eyes shut, letting the remainder of her tears trickle down her cheeks.

He was going to come back. She had to believe that. She'd wait for him forever if she had to. But he was going to come back.

That much she was certain of.

* * *

><p><em>A feast, huh? <em>Echo thought, interested in spite of herself. _Well, I don't need anything desperately, but it couldn't hurt._

Maybe the feast would have something with which she could kill Rylla. She glanced over at the girl who she'd trapped to a tree and scowled. Stupid Rylla. The bitch was still fighting, even with her arm pinned to a tree with Echo's trident. Every time Echo got close, the girl would wave around her poisonous spear. Echo couldn't do anything; she couldn't even get her trident back. Rylla still had yet to fall asleep, but she couldn't free herself either, that much was obvious. Her arm was impaled and the trident had gone very far into the tree, so far that getting it out would have been impossible. Rylla was trapped, unless she wanted to tear off her arm, and Echo doubted she would do it. Still, it was annoying to have prey so close and yet so far. If she left Rylla now, who could tell what would happen?

Rylla, covered in blood, glanced over at Echo. "Are you going to go, Echo?" she asked. "Or are you going to stay here and wait for me to drop my guard?"

Echo rolled her eyes turning around to face Rylla instinctively. "Keep your mouth shut, Rylla," she said warningly. "Of course I'm going to the feast. And when I come back… even that damn spear won't be able to save you."

Rylla's bloody face twisted into a grimace. "Don't worry about me, Echo," she said. "Worry about Garnet."

Echo sighed. "Look, Rylla," she said, looking at the girl seriously. "How many times to I have to tell you? Garnet isn't coming. She would have shown up for you by now. And even if she does, I bet I could take her." Rylla grinned.

"Garnet's twenty times stronger than you are," she said calmly. "I bet she's on her way right now. I wonder what would happen if she came into this clearing?"

"She wouldn't be able to kill me, because Templesmith just said we couldn't," Echo responded. "So have fun, Rylla. I'll be back before you know it."

"Yeah, just keep on thinking that!" Rylla called. Echo ignored her, heading out of the clearing. She'd get another trident, and then she'd spear Rylla with it from a safe distance. Or she'd use the weapon the Gamemakers were sure to supply her with at the feast. Either way, Rylla Stevens was not long for this world.

She wasn't too far away from the Cornucopia; after Lysemet and Dillon had died she'd stayed in the clearing, battling it out with Rylla. It hadn't taken her long to spear Rylla to the tree, but Rylla had managed to keep a firm grip on her spear, and she'd actually batted the knife Echo threw at her out of the sky, putting her foot over it to prevent Echo from getting it. Echo had spent a few hours scrounging around for something long enough to stab Rylla with, but the best she had found was a stick, and when she returned with the stick and hit Rylla over the head with it, it broke and Rylla laughed for the next twenty minutes.

Quietly fuming, Echo rubbed her arms. There was a chill in the air; maybe the Gamemakers' doing? It didn't really matter; if she was going to a feast she was going to be fighting, that much was obvious. She'd be warm soon enough.

She stepped out of the forest and into the clearing where the Cornucopia lay anxiously. There was nothing there, to her annoyance. _Seriously? I trek all the way out here to find… what? Nothing? _Growling to herself, she trudged over to the Cornucopia. There really weren't many weapons left at all. Shouldering packs out of the way, she glanced upon a long blade and pulled out a sword. She grimaced. _It's never been my best weapon, but it'll have to do. _There was a knife lying in the grass, a long, serrated knife that she immediately picked up. _That's more like it._

Her head whipped up at the sound of footsteps in the grass. James Austin Mocking was coming out of the trees, his face hard. When he saw Echo, his face hardened. "Garnett," he said.

"Mocking," she replied, straightening up. The sword gleamed in her hand, and she smirked. "Don't tell me you're weaponless?"

James shook his head. "I've got this," he said, wielding a knife for her to see, "and this," pulling what looked like a worn out slingshot. She shook her head.

"I don't think you'll be able to beat me with that crap," she said sincerely. He shrugged.

"Maybe I won't have to," he pointed out. "There's nothing here, and we're not allowed to fight. Maybe nothing will happen."

As soon as he said the words, there was a scuffling sound, and suddenly the girl from Nine, Merryn, burst out of the woods, followed closely behind by a panting Seren holding that dumb bird mutt in his arms. Both of them stopped when they realized that nothing was there, and everyone in the clearing jumped at the booming voice.

"Ah, so you've all arrived," said Claudius Templesmith, sounding smug. "Well, I believe that's everyone, as Miss Servitore is hiding, Miss Stephens is pinned to a tree, Miss Ryans is paralyzed, and Miss Painite is hunting down Miss Stephens." _Oh; I guess Rylla was right. _"So, tributes, I suppose it is time to tell you the rules.

"Everyone here needs something desperately," Claudius said. As he spoke, a table rose from the ground at the far end of the Cornucopia clearing. "On that table," Claudius explained, "is an amalgamation of everything you tributes have been working for. There is a catch, of course." He paused to chuckle. "You will have to fight dearly for those little treats. In fact, you will have to fight…" He paused for emphasis. "Until only one of you is still standing. Winner gets all."

Echo grinned. _Oh, so that's it? _she thought. _Not as bad as I expected, honestly. That's not a very exciting catch._

"Now, I want everyone who is to participate in this little venture to step forward."

"I'm in," Echo said calmly, cutting blades of grass with the tip of her sword.

"So am I," James said, glaring at her. She glared back.

Merryn and Seren appeared to be scuffling, and then Merryn clamped a hand over Seren's mouth. "I'M IN TOO!" she yelled quickly, before releasing him. He looked horrified, and opened his mouth, but Merryn fixed him with a dangerous stare. "Don't you dare, Seren," she said. "Only one can remain standing, remember? If you go in now, only one of us can come out." She looked horrible; she was pale and covered in a thin sheen of sweat. She walked as though she'd been stabbed in the stomach, although Echo was pretty sure that hadn't happened.

"Be careful, Merryn," Seren said miserably. "I'll watch Regah for you." The creature in his hand stirred and gave a slight squawk, and Echo glared at it. _Dumb bird._

"Good," Claudius said. As he spoke, a tall steel fence that seemed to spark with electricity rose from the ground silently, blocking Seren and the forest from the rest of the tributes. The Cornucopia was inside the fence, as was most of the long meadow, excluding the table with the items. Echo had a feeling that falling against the fence would prove to be fatal; she would have to watch out for that.

"On my mark," Claudius was saying, "killing rights will be restored, and that goes for everyone in the arena, not just those of you in this little contest. Three."

Echo grinned at James. "You ready, Mocking?"

He grinned back. "Far more ready then you'll ever be, you arrogant brat." Echo's eyes narrowed.

"Two."

She glanced at Merryn. The girl's eyes were closed and her hands were balled in tight fists, a knife handle sticking from one of them. She looked as though she were in incredible pain, and rightly so; Echo had slashed the bird so well that Merryn was no doubt in excruciating agony right now; it was probably an effort just to stand. As for fighting, Echo had a feeling that Merryn wasn't going to last long in this contest. She'd target the girl first, just to be merciful and end things quickly. Echo didn't think leaving Merryn alive for much longer would be good for everyone, especially Merryn herself.

"One."

This was it. If she wasn't ready now, she never would be. And Echo was always ready for whatever life threw at her, especially crap like this. There was no way she'd die in anything that wasn't the final battle for the Victor, and even then it was unlikely that she'd lose. Her training would not have been in vain.

"_Go._"

Yes. Yes, she would.

* * *

><p><strong>So... What did you think? Crazy cliffhanger ending, right? Annoyed? Pissed off? Raging?<strong>

**That's what I do whenever there's a cliffhanger ending.**

**Anyhoo, did you like the idea for a feast? Especially a fight to the death feast? I've been throwing this idea around in my head for ages, and I finally decided to do it. I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Since nobody died today, there's nobody to apologize to. Of course, that means that a ton of tributes will die next week. Not even kidding. A TON.**

**TRIBUTE WATCH!**

**Echo Garnett  
>In the Cornucopia arena; chewed-up hands and cheek, stab wound in shoulder<br>Kills: Rorie Jameson (BB character), Dillon Murphy**

**Mela Servitore  
>In the forest in the valley; four tracker jacker stings and three leech mutt bites<br>Kills: Cypress Lockhart**

**Rylla Stevens  
><strong>**At the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain; arm impaled into a tree  
>Kills: Fang; Rosie Fullmoon<strong>

**Seren Alyona  
>At the Cornucopia; three gashes in arm<br>Kills: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>In the valley; paralyzed<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Merryn Enya Night  
>In the Cornucopia arena; stab wound in collarbone, phantom pains from Regah down her front<br>Kills: Matt Grove**

**Garnet Painite  
>Running parallel to the base of the mountain, past the Cornucopia; gash over right eyebrow, painful eye socket<br>Kills: None**

**James Austin Mocking  
>In the Cornucopia arena; stab wound in the sole of the foot, five slashes across face and one on the side of the head<br>****Kills: None**

**See y'all next week! 3**


	20. The Fight to End All Fights: Part Three

**Mehh. I have to go somewhere, so this is gonna be fast. BLEEHHHHHHH THREE PEOPLE DIE THIS CHAPTER!**

**Sayonara!**

* * *

><p>Mela could honestly barely believe it anymore, but she was seriously starting to think that she was going to win.<p>

Of course, Claudius Templesmith booming away in the clouds had scared the crap out of her, especially when he'd given away the fact that she was hiding. She had _not _been happy about that. But no one had come bursting out of the woods to kill her, and she'd realized that things in her neck of the woods were remarkably quiet. The feast must have been very, very entertaining, because nothing was attacking her.

Things had been too quiet for her lately. Even if there was a feast going on, getting some action couldn't be a bad idea. Well, it _could _be a bad idea, but she wasn't going to focus on that. In a choice of either another tribute or a pack of mutts, Mela would definitely choose the tribute. Even if it was Echo. Mela sort of kind of had a teensy bit of an irrational fear of Echo. The girl was scary, and Mela knew in her heart that if she fought Echo, she'd probably die.

Mela wasn't in the mood to die anytime soon, so she was going to avoid Echo.

She didn't notice that she was walking in the direction of the Cornucopia until she heard the far-off sounds of screaming, and the clash of metal on metal. Her pulse quickened, and she reached in her pack for a weapon, any weapon. Her grasping fingers made contact with the handle of a knife, and she pulled it out, holding it in front of her for protection. Stepping forward quietly, she heard another scream, and broke abruptly into a jog. Standing around being quiet was stupid; it was time to act.

Before she broke free of the trees she slipped behind an oak and surveyed the scene. There appeared to be some sort of electric fence in between three battling figures, with a fourth standing outside the fence, holding a bundle in his arms and occasionally shouting encouragement. Mela narrowed her eyes; it was the boy from Six out there. He would be a good kill. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of it, but she clenched her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry.

After all, that boy had tried to kill her before. She was only returning the favor.

And so it was with a lot of guilt that Mela Servitore threw herself out of the cover of the trees, pounding towards the boy. He was intently watching the battle behind the fence and didn't see her at all; not until the last second when his eyes flickered and suddenly she was slashing at empty air. He'd jumped to the side and was now looking at her, eyes hooded and upset. In his arms he held a large bird, which he gently placed to the side, to her surprise.

"Mela Servitore, right?" he asked, ignoring a particularly loud cry from behind the fence. Mela nodded. "You're going to kill me, aren't you?" She nodded again, a sharp pain stabbing her heart.

Lunging forward, she once again slashed at air. The boy had stepped backwards a few paces, and she'd missed him. With an annoyed sigh, she shot forward again, faster this time, and somehow managed to trip over her own feet and fall, sprawling, to the ground. The boy took the opportunity to jump on her back. He grabbed at her face with his hands and before she could process what was happening her face had been slammed into hard-packed earth; once, twice, three times. She gasped, and managed to elbow her attacker in the gut. With a wheeze, he rolled off her, and she jumped on him, stabbing downwards with her knife. With a gasp of pain, his arm shot up and his hand cupped around the knife. It bit deeply into his palm and he flinched but didn't whimper, pulling his hand away, with her knife still embedded inside it, and pulling it out, stained to the handle in dark, dark red.

It came as a dull shock to Mela when he stabbed her in the stomach. She felt a flash of red hot pain, and then everything became fuzzy and indistinct. Dimly she processed herself pulling away, lurching to her feet and stumbling back towards the trees, holding the knife firmly in her stomach. As soon as it came out, she would bleed to death; Mela was no doctor but she knew enough about the mechanics of being stabbed in the stomach for that particular fact to be obvious. Every step was agony. She tumbled into the green of the forest, crashing to her knees and startling a roost of mockingjays, which flew away with several angry squawks. Mela felt acidic bile rising in her throat, and then her blood was spattered on the leaves around her, dripping to the grass below. "Augh!" she gasped, swiping a bloody hand across her lips. Tears dripped from her eyes. "I can't—I can't die like this," she gasped, leaning against a thick tree trunk and closing her eyes. Blood and tears trailed down her cheeks. "I'm still going to win."

She felt everything going foggy but slammed her hand into the tree, the startling pain bringing everything back into focus once again. _I'll just have to outlast them, _she thought, grimly. Her face set into a scowl. _I can still win._

_I have to win._

_Otherwise I'll die._

_And I don't think I'm up to that yet._

* * *

><p>Garnet was surprised that she hadn't heard a cannon yet. It didn't matter much to her if she did or didn't hear one, as long as it wasn't Rylla's. Garnet didn't think she'd be able to take it if Rylla somehow managed to die.<p>

After all, Rylla was Garnet's prey and Garnet's only.

When she'd heard from Templesmith that Rylla was pinned to a tree, her hopes soared, and then died. That would make killing her honorably a little bit difficult. Garnet wasn't about to kill somebody in cold blood. The very thought sickened her now, which was quite odd, considering the fact that she'd been training for a huge portion of her life to kill unflinchingly. Well, that part of her was gone now, and there was no getting it back. She didn't want it back, anyway. It had been quite a bitch, back then. In fact, Rylla Stevens had been the first person to ever stand up to that part of Garnet.

And yet, here Garnet was, hunting down this girl to end her life.

She wondered if Rylla was scared, as she stepped through the trees, lithe and dangerous as a panther. To be honest, that vindictive part of her hoped that Rylla was terrified; trembling against the tree she was pinned to, maybe crying softly. That didn't seem like Rylla, though. Most likely, Rylla was staring quietly at the trees, waiting for Garnet to come and end it. Maybe she would welcome her death, embrace it as a friend. The thought filled Garnet with a nameless dread. Rylla had to fight; she had to fight until the very last moment of her existence. She had to struggle, as Rosie should have gotten the chance to do. Rosie would have struggled, Garnet knew. If she hadn't been so damned hurt from that bitch Arista Ryans, she could have made it. She could have fended Rylla off. But that wasn't how it had worked out at all.

"Rylla?" Garnet called, softly. "Are you there?" She half-expected to hear a reply, but the woods were silent. She wanted to slam her head against a tree in frustration, but now wasn't the time. Rylla had to be in the area; she'd been searching for her for days. Garnet doubted there was much more to the arena than this.

She closed her eyes, letting the image of Rylla take her over completely. A severe Rylla, turning Garnet down for an alliance at their first meeting. A smiling Rylla, grinning as she stitched up Garnet's chest wound. A blissful Rylla, sneaking a kiss with Fang. An uncharacteristically serious Rylla, warning James Mocking that his death was nigh. An even sadder Rylla, sending Garnet to find a plant that probably didn't help infections at all. A tortured Rylla, running from the scene of the crime, Rosie's dark neck slit and gaping.

Garnet didn't think she'd ever hated anyone more in her life.

She knew where Rylla was the minute she opened her eyes. She didn't have to think about it. Even from here she could hear the quiet breathing, the slow but steady drip of blood on a carpet of green. She turned in the direction of the sound, stepping into a quiet copse with a peaceful atmosphere. She didn't even look at the figure, trapped against the tree trunk. She knew who it was.

"Rylla Stevens," Garnet said, and when she finally leveled her gaze at Rylla her eyes were filled with fire. "It's been a while."

Rylla looked oddly peaceful. "I know, Garnet," she said, slumping against the metal that kept her pinned against the tree. "I know."

Garnet took a deep breath. "I'm going to kill you, you know," she said darkly. The only emotion in her voice was hatred, a soft, silky hatred that was strong but nevertheless not strong enough to take her over completely. She could beat it down, if she had to.

Rylla's lips curved into a smile, and she nodded, golden hair gleaming in the faint sunlight. "Oh, Garnet," she said, looking into Garnet's eyes. Her own were moist, and Garnet could tell, in her heart, that this was it. It was finally the end. "Garnet. I never had a single doubt."

It was time.

* * *

><p>Merryn was not feeling at all well.<p>

Her vision was foggy, and every time she moved her torso it burned, sending phantom pain throughout her whole body. Occasionally she would cough into her hand and her brain would project the image of blood on her fingertips before it would vanish. Every breath was agony; it was honestly a miracle she was still functioning.

And yet she still managed to jump backwards as Echo slashed at her nonchalantly with her sword. Echo didn't even seem to be trying, and yet she had Merryn on the defensive, hacking away easily while simultaneously fending off James, who seemed determined to bring her down and extremely reluctant to do so much as touch Merryn. Well, that was fine with her. Seeing as her knees had started to tremble and she was pretty sure any second she was going down, it really didn't matter who was attacking her at this point.

She heard the crackle of the electric fence behind her, and stumbled to the right as Echo's sword jabbed at the place her stomach would have been had she not moved. She felt sick to her stomach, and quite dizzy. What was she doing again…? Oh right, defeating Echo. That would be it.

She sighed as the world tipped and her feet were suddenly lying parallel to the ground. Oh. She had fallen over. Now the world was completely messed up, and there wasn't much she could do about it. Flopping her arms around uselessly wasn't much helping in the matter.

Oh, crap. Echo was standing over her. The girl's face had an apologetic look on it, as though she totally didn't want to be standing over Merryn with a sword right now, preparing to drive said sword into Merryn's heart. The light winked on the blade for a moment and suddenly there was a shout. James had clubbed Echo on the side of the head with a slingshot, distracting her. Echo swung the sword at James, who danced back expertly. There was sweat on his face; he looked tired, as if at any moment he was going to fall apart. Echo, on the other hand, looked well rested, strong, and ready to go.

_James and I are going to die and Echo will win, _Merryn realized, amazed. _I'm going to die. What a strange feeling._

She flipped onto her back, crawling towards the Cornucopia. The grass and dirt scraping against her underside was amazingly painful, she realized. How extraordinary. She paused for a moment to vomit before continuing bravely on, every inch forward another sharp shock of pain through her system. She could only imagine with Regah was feeling right now. Closing her eyes and seeking connection with her mutt only brought her into a swirling mass of pain and crippled wings. Regah would never fly again. In fact, it was unlikely he'd even be alive for much longer. The same could be said for Merryn.

Desperate now, she reached the Cornucopia just as she heard an annoyed snarl from Echo. The girl stomped on her back in a self-congratulatory way, and Merryn couldn't hold back the shrill scream that erupted from her mouth. The phantom gash on her belly pricked against sharp blades of grass, and she thrashed, furthering her torment. She felt Echo grasping her by the hair, and suddenly there was coolness at her throat. _Echo's sword. _She tried to scream, but she didn't have the energy left for such a simple task. Exhausted, she waited for death.

It didn't come. Echo dropped her suddenly, and she landed on a crumpled heap next to the Cornucopia. She could hear shouting, and then James grabbed a random pack and clubbed Echo across the face with it. There had been something heavy inside the pack, apparently, because Echo screeched, enraged, and chopped at James maniacally, yelling something about cutting off certain portions of his anatomy that would forever remove him from the gene pool. Ignoring this, Merryn flopped over a bright orange pack that bulged uncomfortably into her stomach. She needed a knife, or a spear, or something… Anything…

Her fingers grasped cool metal, and she pulled it out, tumbling onto her back as Echo stabbed downwards. To her surprise, the large, round metal shield she had snatched completely prevented Echo from stabbing her through the stomach, as the girl had no doubt intended. Merryn clutched her shield, rolling away as Echo went back to James. Merryn, leaning heavily against the shield, somehow managed to get into a kneeling position. Momentarily forgotten, she grimaced at the sight of a basically unarmed James somehow managing to dodge a great number of Echo's attacks. This seemed to further enrage the girl, and they continued to fight, Echo slashing away and James dodging maniacally. Sometimes he'd get in a few good shots with his knife, but Echo's reach was far better than his and he was losing. Merryn could tell. And as soon as James was gone, she was dead. There was no denying it. This was the end.

She went into a momentary coughing fit and keeled over, eyes watering. By the time she'd recovered sufficiently to watch the scene again, James had hurled his slingshot at Echo, hitting her square in the forehead. It hadn't done much except annoy her, and she brushed off the blow easily, pressing James back until his foot landed hard on something Merryn unfortunately recognized. _My knife… I must have dropped it over there. Oops. _James almost immediately began to fall, and Echo leveled her sword, thrusting it out where it would, in theory, connect with James' heart.

She flew. Merryn had never been so fast before in her life as she was now. Discarding the shield, she focused all of the energy remaining in her body on the sole task of reaching James before Echo did.

She knew almost immediately that she won when she felt the sickly sweet, all too real pain of the sword sliding between her ribs. Something vital inside her ruptured almost immediately, but it didn't stop her from grinning in triumph at Echo's baffled expression. _That was for you, James, even if I didn't know you very well. _He looked just as horrified as Echo. "Why…?" he began, but Merryn turned from him suddenly. _I'm not finished yet._

She let gravity take her this time, but it was quite enough to finish the job. She heard Echo give a startled gasp as the sword with which she'd impaled Merryn impaled her as well. Merryn gave a low, bloody chuckle at the sight of blood oozing from the deep cut she'd made in Echo's side. Echo gave a snarl and buckled, clutching at the wound with red hands.

There was a fog descending on Merryn. Hands still clutching the hilt of Echo's sword, she let herself be swept up by the fog, let its misty embrace pick her up and hold her and take her away. She'd done her part; she'd played her role. She was finished. Merryn Enya Night was done; it was time to sleep, forever.

_The rest,_ she reasoned, as she fell into a darkness from which she would never return, _is up to Seren._

* * *

><p>Merryn's cannon fired, and James still had no clue as to why she'd done it. She'd saved him from being stabbed by Echo, and had even used the sword impaling her to stab Echo before she'd finally let death claim her. She looked peaceful in death, dark hair framing a small, quiet face. She should not have died at all.<p>

Echo looked up at him, a snarl bubbling inside her chest. Her sword was still embedded in Merryn's side, and they both knew that if she tried to get it James would stab her in her unprotected back. To his surprise, she swooped down suddenly and snatched at something that glinted in her hand. _The knife I tripped on. I guess she's still not going to give up. Well, I didn't expect her to, anyway. _

Despite the blood gushing from the deep wound in her side, it was apparent that Echo Garnett was too stubborn to give up. Merryn's parting blow had deeply affected her though; she was now covered in sweat and blood, and looked distracted, almost panicked. James grinned.

"You look flustered," he said, mostly to disorient her. "But don't worry. I often have that effect with the ladies." He winked at her.

"Shut… shut up," she said unsteadily, wobbling forward. Her knife flashed. "I can still fight, moron." She raised the knife and slashed, but he parried easily. This time, he quickly realized, it was Echo who was on the defensive. He jumped forward, slashing and jabbing at her with a maniac energy, almost immediately opening up cuts on her arms and torso. She wasn't nearly as good with the knife as she was with the sword or trident.

"Face it, Garnett," James panted. "You're going down."

"Never," Echo replied, pressing forward again. With a sudden leap forward, her wrist caught on the hilt of his dagger, and she locked into him, pressing against his muscle firmly, trying to knock the knife out of his hand. As soon as she realized that it wasn't going to work she danced away, one hand over her bloody wound.

There was suddenly a strange chuckling sound from above, and James looked up unconsciously. "We thought we'd spice things up," said an amused-sounding Claudius Templesmith, as the ground began to shake. "We added a couple more playmates for you."

When the first mutt crawled up from the recently-made fissure in the ground, James felt nothing but hatred for the Capitol. _The bastards… How in the name of anything can they do this to us? _It was a sandy golden color, equipped with long, sharp teeth that were nearly as long as James' forearm. It looked like a cross between a mountain lion and a wolf, and stalked forward easily, knowing that they had nowhere to hide. And worse, he could see another, and then a third pulling themselves from the fissure.

The injured Echo looked up at them in annoyance, readying her knife. She looked as though she might go for the sword stuck through Merryn's chest, but James slashed at her, wiping away the idea. At the movement, one of the mutt's tails lashed, and it hissed, springing forward. James analyzed the movements with ease before lithely springing up himself, landing on its head. With one swift movement, he sliced off one of the mutt's golden pointed ears. It yowled in pain and shook, and he tumbled to the side, landing on his feet. He didn't know how or what Echo was doing; only noticed that there were now two mutts in front of him, a silver one in addition to his gold attacker. The silver one was making a deep rumbling sound in its throat the James took to mean he was about to die.

"Come and kill me, then!" he yelled, charging. The mutts seemed to be surprised by this, and the golden one reared back a few paces. He skidded across the ground, ducking under the silver mutt's paws and gashing its right leg. It growled, stamping on him with a furry back paw and crushing his torso for a brief moment, but the paw was too padded to kill him. He rolled from behind the mutt and watched Echo. She'd gotten Merryn's sword, still with scraps of Merryn's jacket dangling around the hilt, and was fighting a midnight black mutt, stabbing it in the legs over and over. It buckled, yowled, and snapped at her, jaws gaping, and she backed away as it followed her, still snapping, directly into James. He scowled and she looked as though she'd attack him, but the third and second mutt was closing in, until they were surrounded. He looked at her, and she looked at him, and they both nodded.

James, being a self-proclaimed expert on animals, felt well equipped to take on three admittedly large and dangerous mutts with Echo at his side. Two of them jumped in coordination, the third hanging back, but Echo chopped off one of their paws and James easily stabbed one in the eye, not even pausing for breath. The third screamed in rage, coming forward, and the second grabbed James' arm, puncturing it with two canines that stabbed directly through his skin. With a yell, he twisted the knife around in its black eye and it shrieked, letting go with bloodstained teeth and pulling away. James danced back as the third pounced, crashing into the dirt. While it was down, he jumped on its back and stabbed his knife through its neck, leaning on the blade with his full weight to press it in further. The mutt yowled and shook, but this time he was ready for it, holding on to the mutt's slashed neck with one muscled arm. He pulled out the bloody knife and smashed it through the mutt's thin skull, hearing a cracking noise. The mutt stopped shaking, and it thudded to the ground. He started to get to his feet and barely managed to dodge as the golden mutt pounced, slashing his arm with a long, wickedly sharp claw. He gasped in pain, seeing his own blood soaking through his jacket.

"Damn it," he muttered, stabbing outwards with the knife as the mutt stalked forward. The mutt lunged directly into his knife this time, the bloodstained blade sticking from its forehead. It pulled away, falling to the ground, where it began to twitch spastically. Ignoring the dying creature, James glanced to where Echo was battling the silver mutt. She wasn't doing well; Merryn had struck a mortal blow and Echo was fading fast. Her whole torso was slick with blood; every so often she'd jab at the mutt, who would easily bat away the sword before nicking her with a claw. James realized quickly that the mutt wouldn't kill her fast; no, it would be toying with Echo until the end, making her death agonizingly painful.

He couldn't allow that.

The mutt looked up when he jumped on its back, which made his job much easier. Stabbing it in the eye was sickening, but it was the only way to dispatch the thing quickly and efficiently. It wailed, snapping at him with short, sharp teeth, and he jumped directly on the teeth, using them as a springboard to jump off the mutt, landing before it on his feet. The mutt made a deep sound in its throat and lunged at him, jaws gaping, but James raised his knife and let it enter the mutt's only weak spot, its forehead, at the same time Echo stabbed him through the ribs.

The mutt crashed to the ground, and there was a resounding stillness in the little arena. James fell to his knees, and then onto his hands and knees, where he retched up blood. He heard Echo coming up behind him, and in an agonizing flash of torn skin she ripped the blade from his stomach. "I bet I can kill… Rylla with this," she panted. He looked over his shoulder to see her wound pumping out blood. _You're going to die, you idiot, _James thought. _Merryn killed you. _But still Echo staggered forward, raising the sword again. _She's going to behead me? No. If I die, Arista dies. I can't let that happen._

Echo's expression didn't change when James shot from the earth, burying his knife in her heart. His stomach throbbed and he sprayed blood in her face, and her eyes widened fractionally. "I… lost?" she whispered, and fell over backwards onto the grass.

He heard the cannon with nothing but regret. Slowly, the electric fence was sinking down, and the table with his prizes gleamed. Claudius Templesmith was saying something, but he felt as though his ears were stuffed with cotton. He shambled forward, reaching with trembling fingers for the small pack emblazoned with an 8 and an 11; his District number, and Arista's. It was a small pouch, dark purple, and his snatched it, one hand covering the wound on his stomach that was still gushing blood. Turning from the table, he left the other two items, and the table sank into the ground and disappeared with a sharp click.

He ran. James hurtled past the boy from District Six, who was kneeling in the middle of the field, tears streaming down his cheeks. Every step he took decreased the chances of his survival but increased Arista's. He kept on going.

He crashed through foliage that was now as familiar to him as the face of his best friend back home. What was Cassie thinking, watching this? Was she crying? Cursing him for being so foolish? No, probably just crying. Cass would never, ever hate him.

He recognized the place where he knew Arista was, and slowed to a stop. He could hear her asking him something, and then yelling when he wouldn't answer, but he didn't have any time to stop and listen. The hole in his chest was increasing with every second, his life's blood spilling away. He reached for the pouch with fumbling fingers, pulling from it a syringe filled with a dark green fluid. _Drapeweed. _Without hesitation, he reached out, pulling himself partially up the branch to Arista. His chest throbbed with exertion and he aimed the syringe carefully. He only had one shot.

He released, stabbing the syringe in her beautiful shoulder. He pressed the plunge and sighed in relief, allowing gravity to drag him to the earth. The impact didn't hurt as much as he'd figured it would; it was gratifying. He could hear Arista shriek and then scream; the transition from being paralyzed to being able to move was probably extremely painful. As for James, well… His vision was wavering on the edges. He'd held out for so long; it was a herculean feat. He'd done his best. It was time to go.

With a faint smile on his face, he closed his eyes, and let the darkness take him away.

* * *

><p><strong>I betcha never expected that! I said one would live, but I killed them all anyway! That makes me... a total asshole. Whoops.<strong>

**On that depressing note... I'M SORRY, ANGEL EXPERIMENT 18! I'M SORRY, MAYSILEE SURVIVED! AND I'M SORRY, MOCKING JAMES! ALL OF YOUR TRIBUTES WERE F!(^!^G AWESOME! (why the hell is my expletive highlited blue? Do you guys see that? Or is it just me?)**

**Here's a random dedication thing. Because I loved the tributes that died today.**

**To Merryn: may you and Regah find many more bird mutts to play with in the sky.**

**To Echo: may you and Cypress meet up again, and may you be a total bitch to Cypress for being one of the first people to die.**

**To James: goodbye, epitome of awesome. Hope you have fun in heaven, where the awesome people go.**

**TRIBUTE WATCH... (my heart just isn't in it)**

**Mela Servitore  
>In the forest in the valley near the Cornucopia; four tracker jacker stings and three leech mutt bites, stabbed in the stomach with knife<br>Kills: Cypress Lockhart**

**Rylla Stevens  
><strong>**At the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain; arm impaled into a tree  
>Kills: Fang; Rosie Fullmoon<strong>

**Seren Alyona  
>At the Cornucopia; three gashes in arm, stabbed palm<br>Kills: None**

**Arista Ryans  
>In the valley; uninjured<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Garnet Painite  
>At the forest between the Cornucopia and the mountain; gash over right eyebrow, painful eye socket<br>Kills: None**

**See you guys next week... *bursts into tears**


	21. Sometimes We Don't Get What We Want

**Hey kids!**

**I wanted to ask you guys something... I know I'd said that I would do two or three post-Games chapters featuring our Victor (who I know, by the way) but I've been thinking that I might only do one, or one really long last arena chapter including post-Games events so that I can put up my new SYOT, as I want the Victor to be a central character in it. Is that a problem? Tell me what you think!**

* * *

><p>Mela hadn't really been keeping track of it, but the sun had made a gradual descent through the sky until it finally dipped below the horizon, bathing the arena in darkness. Mela shivered, teeth chattering. Her jacket was tied around her slim waist, but she didn't trust herself to move her arms and place it over her shoulders. Her stomach wound, courtesy of Seren Alyona, was still throbbing, and if she moved too much it would start to pump out blood and she'd be forced to stop whatever it had been she was trying to do.<p>

A sheen of sweat covered her forehead. She was going to die here, alone in a forest, with her family watching on television. Mela imagined that they'd be crying, even her mother, who hated her. Hated was a bit of an overstatement, actually. They'd never gotten along with each other, but hated? The word was a bit strong. In fact, Mela now wished that she'd said that when she'd gotten the chance instead of sort of nodding at her mother during the goodbyes. Maybe now she could say something, but that would be like she was admitting that she was going to die, and she didn't want to admit it, even though it was obvious.

She gritted her teeth and fluttered a hand towards the hole in her stomach. Her fingertips came in contact with dried, crusty blood. When she pressed slightly, a pang of pain so severe shot up her stomach that she gasped aloud, clenching her hands into fists and slamming herself against the tree trunk. Dying was agony; every breath burned with a fiery clarity. Mela watched her breath turn into vapor in front of her nose and shivered again, eyelids drooping. She didn't want to surrender to the chilly night, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to even remember what she was doing here, let alone to stay awake. Maybe it would be easier to just close her eyes and let whatever was waiting for her have her, but Mela was going to put on a good show. If she had to die, she'd die as the fifth person in the Hunger Games and as a hero, not as some pansy who couldn't keep their stupid eyes open.

A smile flicked across her face. _Mental bravado, how clichéd of me. But I think I have an excuse for being a little clichéd, seeing as I'm about to die._

Even if she was having trouble breathing and staying awake, her hearing was fine, and she could hear the crunch of twigs under something's feet as it stumbled its way towards her. She heard gasping and a few sniffles, and suddenly Seren Alyona (_that _was his name) was standing in front of her, looking apologetic. He had a knife in his hand, and a longer knife in the other, and looked horrific. His eyes were puffy and red and his cheeks were shiny, although he'd been crying recently. Perhaps his ally had died? Even as she looked at him, Mela heard the anthem beginning to play with a flourish, and couldn't help herself; she looked away from the boy to see. The girl from District Two came first, glaring down at Mela like she wanted to rip her throat out. Then came the boy from District Four, bright red hair shining in the darkness. The nut from Six came next, her smile decidedly unhinged as she grinned down at the remaining tributes of the 54th Hunger Games. Mela felt her heart twist at the girl from District Nine's confident smile. That had been Seren's ally, she was sure of it. And then there was the cocky smirk of the boy from Eleven, looking altogether pleased with himself as he faded out of the world forever.

All dead.

She looked back at Seren to see tears running down his face. He'd fallen to his knees and had dropped his knives, rubbing at his eyes with mud-stained hands. "What did I do?" he asked, coughing through his tears. He was wheezing slightly, and Mela realized that he was coming down with something. Poor kid, not the best time for it. "How could I do this?"

She realized that he was talking to her, indirectly. Something told her that the Capitol would want a fight; well, that sucked for them, didn't it? When you were dying, she realized idly, it was easy to think such things.

"It's okay, kid," she said, coughing up a little blood from the exertion of it. He looked up, eyes huge and swimming with tears, and she felt the urge to protect him, to stoke his soft white-ish hair and tell him that everything would be okay. It was ironic that he was the one that had done this to her, but she knew now that it wasn't his fault. None of this stuff was. It all came down to the Capitol, in the end.

"It's okay," she repeated. He stared at her, unblinking, and she forced herself to smile. "There," she said, tossing her head at one of his discarded knives. "Finish me."

He looked as though he were about to bolt. "But… I don't think I can." His voice was tiny.

She narrowed her eyes. "Are you going to leave me like this? Huh? Are you?" Every word brought a few more drops of blood up, and at the last one she leaned forward and retched blood and vomit onto the grass. She looked up at him, ignoring the ropy stuff dripping from her chin. "Go ahead," she said, voice hanging.

He picked up the knife with a trembling hand.

The world began to blur.

There was a very icy feeling around her throat, like a necklace getting tighter and tighter until it broke her flesh completely. She realized idly that there was a warm wet substance dripping down to her collarbone. He'd slit her throat. How unoriginal. Her mouth twitched in spite of herself.

Gravity took her limp torso, but Seren didn't let her hit the ground. She felt his weak, frail arms encircling her, and then he was clutching her bleeding, ruined body to his chest, his ribs stabbing her in the stomach. Her eyes widened, and then dimmed. She realized that a grin had forced its way onto her face. She was smiling. Smiling as though she'd never been happier. It was even true, a little bit.

The last of her blood splattered onto the grass. It was time to go.

Her consciousness faded away, leaving one last thought to follow her to wherever it was that she was going. _You're going to win, Seren. On my death. _

_You'll win._

And then she _was _dead, and her thoughts ceased to exist.

* * *

><p>Rylla found it hard to believe, but Garnet was still working away on the trident embedded in the tree. The girl was incredibly fast; she'd managed to dodge Rylla's initial attack with the poisoned spear, which now lay in useless pieces on the ground. And then she'd grabbed the trident in her hands and heaved, trying to get it out of the tree. Unfortunately, it was stuck a little harder than either of them had expected, and now, hours later, Garnet was still trying.<p>

"Just give up, Garnet," Rylla said; her voice was dry from hours of silence. "Just kill me. You're never going to get it out."

"Shut up," Garnet said, avoiding Rylla's gaze. She heaved, but the trident remained stubbornly impaled in the tree. Rylla winced as her blood began to flow again, the trident's sharp edges scraping against her crusted-over wounds. She bit her lip, but she doubted that Garnet would be sympathetic to her plight. After all, she _had _killed Garnet's only friends.

"Stop, Garnet," Rylla said quietly. "I don't know what you're trying to prove, but it's stupid. Just end me."

Garnet stopped, panting and leaning on the shaft of the trident. A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead, and when she looked at Rylla her eye was blazing. "Stop?" she said, dangerously. She took a step closer to Rylla, slamming her fist into Rylla's cheek. "You bitch! How dare you? I'm not going to stop until I get this goddamn trident out of this goddamn tree and we can fight!"

Rylla looked away, cheek burning. "Fine," she said shortly. "But if we fight, you might not win." She hadn't meant it as a threat and Garnet didn't seem to take it as such. In fact, the corner of her lips turned up in a smile that Rylla knew meant that she was going to lose.

"I'll win," Garnet said, and ripped the trident out of the tree.

The movement was so unexpected that Rylla gasped and moaned, falling to the ground. Blood was pumping out of her ruined arm, and she realized that it wouldn't be so hard for Garnet to kill her. Anyone could probably kill her right now, even Rosie. Rylla had to smile a little at the thought of her ally. Killing Rosie had been for the best. Garnet would never admit it, but Rosie was wasting away in a fever that was never going to heal. Clearly, Rylla had done the right thing.

Garnet was staring down at her, trembling slightly. The bloody trident was held loosely in one hand, and her one remaining eye glowed in its socket. "Get up," she commanded, and her voice was that of an avenger, not of the girl that Rylla had once befriended.

Rylla got to her feet unwillingly, pausing only to pick up her poisoned spear. Garnet looked at it for a moment, and then looked at Rylla. "You ready?" she asked. Rylla paused for a moment, and then nodded.

Garnet shot forward like lightning, slashing the trident at Rylla's face. Rylla danced back, holding the shaft of her poisoned spear in front of her. With a bat of Garnet's trident, the spear broke in half and tumbled to the grass, Rylla following close behind. Garnet snarled. "Are you giving up that easily?" She prodded Rylla's collarbone with the prongs of her trident. "Get up!"

Rylla, trembling now, picked up the half of the broken spear. Garnet didn't lunge at her this time; she simply stood there, waiting for Rylla to make the first move. Rylla lunged forward experimentally, and gasped as Garnet's arm shot out, catching her in the solar plexus. She wheezed, jabbing the poison spear at Garnet's stomach. Garnet easily caught it in between the prongs of her trident and whirled, sending it flying across the clearing. Rylla didn't pause for breath; she lunged past Garnet, pounding towards her only weapon. Her bloodied arm hung limply at her side, and she screamed as Garnet's trident embedded in her shoulder. She fell to her hands and knees, crawling towards the spear. She snagged the shaft of the spear at the same time Garnet's foot slammed into her back, pressing her into the ground. There was a wet, sickening slurp as the trident was pulled from her skin. She clenched her eyes shut and waited for death, but realized that it wasn't coming yet. Garnet was breathing heavily, and suddenly Rylla felt herself being pulled up.

Garnet hurled her into a tree, which she slammed into and thudded to the ground, staining everything red. She felt as though a rib was broken, maybe two. Her heart sank. Garnet was coming forward and her one eye was red. It was over.

She hurled the spear in a last-ditch effort to save herself, but Garnet batted it out of the air so easily it was pathetic. She felt a tiny humming scream burst out of her mouth, and let the tears that had been gathering in the corners of her eyes leak down her cheeks. "Garnet," she whispered. Garnet just looked at her, arm with the trident hanging by her side. "Garnet!" Rylla shrieked, surprising both of them. "Don't just stand there, you bitch! Come on and finish me off. What are you, a Career? Are you gonna torture me to death, Garnet? At least I made their deaths quick!"

Garnet still only looked down at her, eyes red-rimmed. "You don't deserve a quick death," she said, in a voice so low it was almost impossible to hear. She extended a hand, suddenly. "But I'll give it to you anyway. Come on. Stand up."

Rylla eyed the extended hand. "I'm fine where I am," she whispered.

Garnet's eyes narrowed. "I don't want to kill you like this," she snarled. "Sitting down. I want to fight you."

Rylla's eyes were moist. She got to her knees, and then stopped, looking up at Garnet's face. "Oh Garnet," she said, looking into the eyes of someone that she knew now was her friend, deep down inside. "Sometimes we don't get what we want." Her blood felt cool on her warm skin, slipping down her useless arm and pattering on the spongy leaves of a plant tickling her thigh.

Garnet raised the trident, features inscrutable, but paused, staring at Rylla's face as though she were looking for something. _I have to end this, _Rylla thought. _Garnet… I don't think she wants to kill me. But I can't… I can't live with myself anymore. I have to make her hate me, for real this time._

And it was with no regrets that she let a malicious smile curl onto her face. "Look at you," she whispered. "Looking down on me." Her eyes widened. "Don't look down on me! Don't you ever look down on me! Don't-!"

There was a sickening thud, and she looked down to see the trident embedded in her stomach.

There was no time to say anything. Blood was already clogging her throat, coming out of her nose, strangely enough. She slumped forward on the trident, eyes flickering. Her vision was already gone, and then she felt her ability to move spiral away.

Only her consciousness was left. And it wasn't long before that, too, disappeared down a hall of darkness, to places that Rylla could only guess.

* * *

><p>It had started to rain.<p>

Seren didn't know who the rain was targeting, or why, but it was raining, and it was cold. He snuggled deeper into his jacket and let another cough rack his body. He was getting sick again. Whenever he had gotten sick in the past, he'd spend weeks in bed, but now he was in the arena. There weren't even beds here. It was the worst possible time to be sick, and he was regretting the awful timing with every fiber of his being.

He was thirsty now, and opened his mouth, letting rainwater patter on his tongue. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. He was curled up on a tree branch now, taking shelter under his jacket. It smelled somewhat musty and he knew sleep would be hard to come by, but no matter. Sleeping at this stage in the Games would just be stupid. He'd been dozing off when he heard the cannon blast. It had come only a few minutes after he'd watched Mela's body being pulled into the sky from the safety of a tree. His stomach knotted in anticipation. This was it; the final three. There were only two other people in this arena. Only one of them could live.

The idea, to say the least, was startling.

He coughed again, and immediately covered his mouth with his hand. For all he knew, he was being hunted right now. He closed his eyes; going through who it could possibly be that was left. He was fairly sure that everyone from District One was dead, and District Two. He'd just killed Mela, and her district partner had died in the Bloodbath, so District Three was out. He didn't know about District Four; the boy had died today, but the girl could still be alive. _Okay, the girl from District Four is a potential competitor. _The boy from District Five was out, he knew, and he couldn't exactly remember the girl. _Maybe she's still alive? _He felt like he'd seen her in the sky at some point, though. He gasped in realization. _Oh, right, she's one of the ones Merryn attacked in the underground caves. Probably dead, then. _He shuddered. _Oh, Merryn. I wish you and Regah were here. _The hovercraft that had collected the bodies hadn't collected Regah's, to Seren's horror, so he'd buried the bird mutt in the field. He could have eaten Regah, but that bird was Merryn and Merryn was that bird. Eating Regah would be like eating his best friend. He couldn't do it.

Lysemet was dead. He'd seen her when he'd been killing Mela. He couldn't help but feel slightly happy about it. That girl had hated him from the start, and now she was gone. He was safe from her forever, unless he died in the final three and went to the same afterlife as she did. He shuddered; an eternity of Lysemet would be too much to bear.

The girl and boy from Seven were dead. The girl had died in the Bloodbath; he remembered it. As for the boy, he'd seen him in the sky at some point. The boy from Eight had also died in the Bloodbath, but the girl, Arista Something… She was still alive. He was sure of it, unless that cannon earlier had been hers. _Okay, Arista might be killing me at some point too. _

He didn't want to think about District Nine. Especially not the girl from District Nine.

It was in District Ten that he found his last potential opponent. "Garnet Painite," he muttered to himself. "That's it, then. Either the girl from Four, Arista, or Garnet just died, which mean the other two are still out there." He shivered, although this time it had nothing to do with the cold.

Seren glanced up at the crackle of lightening. He winced. Suddenly being in a tree seemed like a really bad idea. He slid off the branch, at the same time the tree next to his exploded in a shower of splinters and wood chips, a lightning bolt just feet away from him.

He turned tail and ran.

There was no doubt in his mind that the Gamemakers were up to something. It was possible that they wanted to kill him so the final showdown would be between two people instead of three, although being exploded by lightning seemed like a boring, bloodless death for the final three. Zigzagging around a fallen log, he paused for a second to catch his breath and immediately started running again as the lightning hit the ground directly behind him. _It's obvious where I have to go, _he thought. _They know that I know what I have to do._

_The underground cave is the only way._

As soon as he turned his boots in the direction of the caves, the lightning stopped getting so ridiculously close, although it continued to occasionally explode a bush or an unlucky animal. At one point, some sort of bird mutt fluttered down from a tree, claws outstretched, and a lightning bolt hit it in the middle, obliterating it. Seren felt a pang of hurt; the mutt had been the same type of mutt as Regah.

He passed the Cornucopia and Regah's grave in a flash of gold. Leaping over a bush, he pounded towards the mountain, stopping once more to breathe deeply through his mouth. Apparently the lightening didn't want to wait; it hit the very tip of the tree he was leaning against, setting the whole thing on fire in a matter of seconds. Gasping for air, Seren continued to run before tripping over his own feet and falling to the muddy, soggy ground, sides aching. He just couldn't do it. Last time it had taken him over an hour to walk to the stupid mountain. He couldn't run that far.

He could hear something exploding directly behind him. Was this it, then? Was he going to die by lightning? He felt a tiny note of resolve creep into his heart. Of course not.

He shot to his feet, fingers digging into the mud and pulling him forward. The lightning had obliterated the spot in which he'd been laying. The thought of death so imminent made him cringe, but he continued forward, jogging at a steady pace. As he'd thought, the lightning didn't get too close. They wanted him alive.

It took another torturous half hour before Seren spotted the base of the mountain. His sides were burning and he wanted nothing more than to lay in the mud and let the rain cover him completely, but he kept on going, at least until he saw Garnet Painite sprinting out of the trees like a gazelle, lightning stabbing directly behind her and on practically all sides, herding her towards the mountain. She scrambled onto the white rocks and almost immediately fell into the hole that would lead to the cavern. _Crap, _Seren thought. _I can't go in there now. _He took a step back and felt lightning scorching his back, so close that it had almost touched him. _But apparently I'm supposed to._

He shot out of the woods, running for the white rocks. It was still raining; in fact the rocks were wet and slippery. It was difficult to get a firm grip on them, but Seren scrabbled his way towards the hole in between the perfectly cut stones. He took a deep breath and glanced down to see nothing but darkness. He clutched his long knife in one hand, leaving the other in his belt, and strengthened his resolve before sliding into the unknown.

* * *

><p>James was dead.<p>

The thought buzzed around in Arista's head like a thousand angry tracker jackers, keeping her mind occupied on something other than the lightening that was following her around. James. He'd died for her, the idiot. She hadn't wanted him to go, but he had, and look what had happened to him.

She loved James. She'd probably admitted it to him when she was still alive, but not enough. Wherever he was now, he was probably lonely, and maybe he was wondering if she really had loved him, or if she'd been playing with his feelings. Well, Arista knew. She couldn't play with anybody's feelings for her life, especially not his.

Stupid love.

She'd spent all day crying, after the screaming was over. They'd taken her James when she was still writhing in agony on a tree limb. She hadn't gotten the chance to truly say goodbye, to stroke his cheek and whisper in his ear. He must have won, because he'd gotten her the drapeweed, but Arista still wished she could find the one who had wounded him and rip their throat out. No matter. She was fighting for James now, not herself, and because of that, she would win. She had to win. He'd died for her, and his sacrifice couldn't be in vain.

The lightning couldn't keep up with her. Arista was running fast, so fast that her troubles were falling behind her. Only one managed to cling to her heart, and that was the one that was the most troubling to her. _James. _

She shot past mutts and Cornucopias and lightning bolts and killer plants with no discretion. The lightning seemed to be herding her somewhere, but she couldn't honestly bring herself to care. Her axe was held loosely in her hand; there'd been nothing else to bring, as someone had stolen all of their packs while she'd still been paralyzed and James had been out hunting. The axe was comforting to her; she hadn't ever gotten much of a chance to use it, as she'd been paralyzed for most of the Games, but now that the final fight was coming up, the axe was going to help her win.

She burst out of the woods easily, sprinting in the direction the lightning was telling her to go. She had to pause, though, at the sight of a white-haired boy standing on the rocks piled up on the base of the mountain. He seemed to be steeling himself for something big, and abruptly he stepped forward and vanished. Arista clenched her teeth; the Capitol was up to something, no doubt about it.

She looked to the right coolly as a lightning bolt big enough to split the mountain in two slammed into the forest. She realized idly that multiple bolts were coming down now, destroying the arena. They were massive and predatory, exploding the forest into complete and utter ruin. Trees flew through the air, scorched beyond recognition. Somewhere in all that chaos, the Cornucopia would be melting into a blob of molten golden metal. All of the animals and mutts would be roasting alive, giving their last screams. The place where James took his final breaths would be bursting into a pile of bloody dirt scattered across a ruined landscape.

She screamed once, turning around to see the biggest lightning bolt of all hitting the peak of the mountain. There was a distant roar, and the snow-tipped peak began to crack, an avalanche of epic proportions tumbling down the slope, directly at her. Her personal lightning bolts were back, and once again they were herding her towards the now-broken mountain, where the boy had vanished.

_I'm going to die, _she thought numbly, shooting towards the mountain and the roaring snow. _I'm sorry, James. I couldn't do it._

The avalanche was getting closer. The white rocks that she pulled herself on were covered in rainwater and ash, and extremely slippery. She slid down to the bottom of one of the rocks she'd been trying to climb and screamed in frustration and fear, seeing the avalanche and lightning growing ever closer. Her personal lightning was also drawing near.

"Augh!" she screamed, taking a step forward. Her personal lightning immediately winked out of existence, and looking down she could see why. There was a hole in between the rocks, a hole that could lead anywhere but probably just led to the place of the final fight.

The avalanche was now so close that she could feel flecks of snow and little bits or rock and dirt on her forearms.

"Goodbye, James," she said, taking a deep breath and stepping forward into the blackness that was the whole. Milliseconds later, the avalanche would hit the place she'd just been standing, but she had made it.

Now the only thing left to do… was win.

* * *

><p><strong>I am honestly sorry, Lavinia Abernathy and thelosthungergames. Mela and Rylla were, in short, amazing. On a lighter note, weren't their deaths awesome? Come on, you know they were. I had a lot of fun writing them!<strong>

**TRIBUTE WATCH, FOR THE LAST TIME IN THIS SYOT!**

**Seren Alyona  
>The cavern under the mountain; three gashes in arm, stabbed palm<br>Kills: Mela Servitore**

**Arista Ryans  
>The cavern under the mountain; uninjured<br>Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon**

**Garnet Painite  
>The cavern under the mountain; gash over right eyebrow, painful eye socket<br>Kills: Rylla Stevens**

**Holy crap. All of our remaining characters have finally killed someone (even Seren, yay!) and they're all in the cavern under the mountain. This is it, guys! WHO. WILL. WIN?**


	22. The Victor

**Guys...**

**Not to get all gushy on you, but I've got a lot I want to say and not that much time to say it all. I'm going to thank at the end, but here I just wanted to say this: _It's the end. _This SYOT is officially done. I hoped you all enjoyed it.**

**Because I know I did.**

* * *

><p>Garnet awoke to a blinding, pounding headache.<p>

To be honest, she hadn't even realized that she'd fallen asleep. She'd been running for her life away from the _stupid _lightning, and then she'd tripped and fallen into some sort of hole, and everything had turned fuzzy and indistinct. And now she was here, although she didn't exactly know where _here _was.

For one thing, she could see. And it was dark. But she could still see the cavern roof stretching far above her, could still see the confused faces of the two other tributes lying a few feet away from her where the three of them formed a triangle. For another thing, she had two eyes again, and both of them felt strange; new. _Oh, my… Did they replace my eyes? That's just sick._

She staggered to her feet, relieved to note that her trident was lying next to her on the cave floor. As soon as she picked it up she felt slightly better; its heavy weight in her hand comforted her. It was still stained with Rylla's dried blood, which she scraped on the ground. Rylla was gone now, and thinking about her would only mess things up.

Even as she stood, a wave of dizziness took over and she staggered to the right, automatically holding up a hand as a searing pain traveled across her head. Her probing fingers pushed away her dark hair impatiently and she gasped as she touched a raised line on her skull; puffy and tender, as though someone had recently cut into her skull. She blanched. _What the hell? Did they… did they put something in my head?_

The other tributes had the lines on their heads too. The blonde one, Arista, was muttering something under her breath and picking up an axe. Garnet could tell almost immediately that she was going to be the real threat; not that tiny kid Seren with the two knives standing a few feet away from her. To be honest, the kid kind of reminded her of Rosie. She felt sick to her stomach. She hated this; all the killing, all the bloodshed. When would it end? Would it ever end?

All three of them stared at each other for a moment, sizing each other up. Garnet and Arista locked eyes immediately, deciding on their next opponent. Seren just looked scared; he was trembling as he raised his knife weakly in the air.

Garnet didn't wait. She charged at the blonde girl, holding the trident out in front of her. Arista raised the axe, her eyes fiery. Garnet stabbed with the trident but Arista slashed with the axe, knocking the weapon away from her unprotected stomach. Garnet couldn't help herself; an animal snarl erupted from her lips and she leapt over a blow from the blonde, plunging the trident deep into the girl's shoulder. Arista's eyes widened but she didn't scream, bringing the axe up and stabbing it deep into Garnet's knee. Garnet gasped; she could feel the axe blade slicing through bone as well as muscle and sinew just as well as she could feel the prongs of her trident cracking the blonde's collarbone.

They pulled away with similar pants. Garnet sneaked a glance at Seren, who was leaning against a rock, watching them battle. _Smart; he's waiting for the winner to show up so he can jump on them when they least expect it. I should go after him… _She shook her head, readying her trident. He was too small; too defenseless. She never thought that she'd end up thinking like this, but… It was wrong. She didn't think she could do it.

Arista's lips had curled back and now she crouched in a defensive position, waiting for Garnet to attack. Garnet glowered at her. The girl had nearly sliced her leg off with one blow from that axe. She was a powerhouse; dangerous, strong and fast. And Garnet now couldn't even run.

This time Arista came forward, lunging unexpectedly and swinging the axe. Garnet caught the blow on the shaft of the trident and shoved the girl back furiously, swiping her hard across the face. The girl screamed as the trident cut deeply into the skin of her cheek and one of her new eyes. _That was for the eye you threw that leech mutt at, _Garnet thought, remembering. _That seems so long ago. And your partner, James. He died, didn't he? Probably at the feast. Poor bastard. _

Arista glared at Garnet, blood dribbling down her cheek. Her new Capitol-made eye was ruined; it had been totally punctured by Garnet's trident, and the rest of her face didn't look so good either. "What, are you just going to stand there?" Arista asked; fury evident in her stiff posture. Her good eye suddenly slid to Seren, and faster than Garnet had thought possible she lunged at the boy, swinging the axe. To Garnet's amazement, he jumped up, landing on her shoulders. Garnet winced as she heard a crack from the one she had stabbed, and fresh blood spattered onto Seren's boots as he flipped off of his opponent's shoulders and landed neatly on his feet behind her. Garnet raised her trident casually, and he looked at her, opening his mouth to say something, when it happened.

Her vision blurred, as though someone had flipped a switch. She froze, tremors running up and down her spine. Her vision was suddenly grainy, and then, with startling clarity, Rylla Stevens was standing in front of her.

It was her head's fault. That much was obvious to Garnet, right away. Whatever the Capitol had put in her head had given her this, this sadistic-looking Rylla standing before her, wearing a sexy black dress covered in blood and grinning at her with sharp teeth. It was clear that she was hallucinating, and hearing things, too, because Rylla opened her mouth abruptly. "Hey, bitch," she said, stepping forward and putting a hand on Garnet's arm. Damn it, she could feel the weight of it, could feel Rylla's sharp black fingernails nicking her skin.

"How's it been going?" Rylla continued, tossing her blonde hair. "It's been going great for me. Wait—no, actually, things haven't been going so well for me. Want to know why? I died." Her smile grew twisted. "And it was _you _that killed me."

"Stay away from me," Garnet hissed, picking up her trident and plunging it deep into the fake Rylla's head. For a moment, the apparition fizzled, and then it winked out of existence, leaving a mocking laugh ringing on the non-existent wind.

Garnet took a second to look at her fellow tributes, despite being severely frazzled and scared out of her mind. Arista was staring at something that wasn't there, rubbing her head along the puffy scar where the Capitol had no doubt inserted some sort of chip to make her see, hear and even feel things. Abruptly, she slashed out with her axe. Seren, on the other hand, was staring in front of him in horror, shaking his head dumbly. He stumbled and fell to his knees, tears leaking out of his eyes. He sneezed once, pathetically. Now would be a good time to kill him, only…

Fang was staring at her, a bloody spear sticking directly through his forehead. His eyes were lit with a maniacal light, and he grimaced when he saw her. "Garnet!" he yelled. "It's Rylla, she—oh God, Rylla, don't do this! Stop! Noo!"

"I'll do what I like!" Fake-Rylla cackled, shoving Fang to the ground and leaping on his chest. Teasingly, she kissed him on the lips and pulled the spear from his head, stabbing it into his arm, his leg, his groin, his cheek, his shoulder…

"_Stop_!" Garnet screamed, hurling her trident. It sunk into Fake-Rylla's chest and she bubbled before hissing into nothingness, taking Fang with her. Garnet gasped as she snatched up her trident. A quick glance upwards showed her that Arista was now in tears, pleading with something that only she could see, and Seren was cocking his head and looking at _his _personal apparition oddly, slowly picking up his knife.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was soft, feather-light, and cold as ice. Garnet began to tremble violently, turning around as though in a dream.

Rosie's dark eyes were dull, and the faint smile on her face was vaguely apathetic. She stood still, wearing a short, clean metallic grey dress similar to the one she'd worn on the night of the interviews. Slowly, she cocked her head at Garnet. "I remember you," she said. Her voice was the rustle of dead leaves.

Garnet did her best to hold back the tears, but they burst from her working eyes like a dam, trickling down her cheeks. "Of course you remember me, Rosie," she said softly. "We were allies." The tiny smile on Rosie's face didn't change.

"Oh," she said simply, and then, "I died. It hurt a lot, Garnet. I was burning up when I died." There was a spark, and suddenly the dark-skinned girl in front of her was roasting away, flesh melting and dripping off her skeletal frame.

"_NOO!" _Garnet wailed, jumping forward. Suddenly extinguished, an intact Rosie fell neatly into her arms, wrapping her arms around the older girl.

"Well," she whispered into Garnet's ear. "Stay with me, Garnet."

"I'll stay," Garnet promised, feeling a dreadful coldness seeping into her veins. Her bloody leg buckled beneath her and she fell to her bleeding knees, still clasping Rosie to her chest. The girl didn't move in her arms and Garnet knew that she wasn't even real, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

"I'm sorry, Merryn," she heard Seren say, and looked up to see him slashing air. He stared at a spot directly in front of him for a moment, eyes filled with tears, before looking away and shaking his head sadly. His gaze fixed in Garnet, and slowly he began to walk towards her, still shaking his head.

Now was her time to act, but Garnet found that it was too late. Her whole body had been injected with lead; she was pinned to the floor of this cavern, and all she could do was watch as Seren came closer, baring his silver blade. A few of her tears dripped off her nose, and for a moment her eyes connected with the boy's. He looked as though he were ready.

Abruptly, Garnet looked away, to the apathetic face buried in her shoulder. _Oh well, _she thought, staring into Rosie's dull eyes. _I promised you I'd stay with you._

When the knife slammed into her brain, Rosie flickered and disappeared, as did her senses a second later. She was trapped in a netherworld of darkness, each thought echoing a thousand times before fading away. Would she stay here forever, never fully dying? Oh, no. Another flash of pain cleaved her soul in two. He was sending her off.

_I'm coming, guys, _she thought, and died.

* * *

><p>"You're not real," Arista whispered, but the laughing, twisted James in front of her shook its head, its smile a distorted mass of teeth.<p>

"Yes, I am," it giggled, spitting blood out of its mouth. "I'm real and you know it." Its limbs bubbled and turned viscous and it fell to the ground, oozing towards her. "This is what I looked like after the feast," it whispered, in her mind. "Ruined. You let that happen to me, Arista. _You _let me die."

"No- no, that's not what happened," she gasped, taking a step away as it reached for her boot. "You didn't look like that."

"Really?" James asked, suddenly his normal self and standing in front of her. He grinned at her before whipping his shirt over his head, showing her the hole stabbed through his chest. "You're right, actually," he admitted, smiling as blood began to spill from the wound. "_This _is what I looked like." "No!" she gasped, taking a step back, but James shot forward and grabbed her wrist, suddenly holding a knife which he pressed to her throat.

"Come with me, Arista," he said, beginning to pull at the knife. She screamed as her flesh tore.

"No!" she gasped, shaking her head against the blade. "I won't, I won't—augh!" She gasped as something stabbed her in the pelvis, and then James flickered and vanished, leaving a determined-looking Seren Alyona pressing a knife into her pelvis.

"They were fake," he spat, pulling away. "Fake images. They can't—achoo—hurt you."

"Are you sick?" she asked, in spite of herself. In response, he glared at her, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

She felt her heart sink. Killing him would be hard; she had to at least show the districts something to prove that she wasn't as heartless as they were no doubt calling her right now. "Thank you," she whispered, shutting her eyes for a second. "For killing James for me." Without waiting for a reply, she picked up her axe and lunged.

He didn't wait for her. By the time her axe completed its slow arc, he was on the side of her, pale face sweaty with fever and exertion. He shot forward, aiming for her wounded shoulder, but she slammed him in the nose with the shaft of her axe. She heard an easily audible crunch as his nose broke and blood began to flow down his upper lip and into his mouth. He staggered back, dabbing at the blood with his bare arm, looking scared. That was unsurprising, really; they both knew he was going to lose.

"Just give it up," she ordered harshly, hating herself for sounding like a monster but knowing that it was necessary. He'd killed Garnet; her body was lying on the stone cold floor, slowly bleeding from the knife in its brain. He could be dangerous, he could kill. He was a monster too. They all were.

"No," he gasped, through the blood in his mouth. His eyes were steely, and he'd taken on the look of a cornered, desperate animal. He raised one of his knives in front of his face, trembling. She shook her head.

"Stop fighting," she said, jumping into the air and bringing down the axe. It buried itself in the ground; Seren had just managed to dodge it. He danced away, eyes bright with fear.

"No!" he repeated.

"Stop saying that!" she yelled, a strange anger taking over her. Holding the axe to the side, she shot at him with all of her speed, easily running into him and bringing him to the ground. She raised the axe over his head.

"No!" he gasped, looking her in the eye. "I'm not going to give up! I'm never going to give up!"

"_Don't you get it?" _she screamed, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him furiously. "We're in the Hunger Games, you moron! People die; they give up and they die! And we have to keep on living without them because life is bitch and she won't let us go when we'd rather just give up forever! Damn it, can't you _see_?"

"Can't _you _see?" Seren asked, glaring at her coldly. "You just said it. No matter what happens, we have to keep on living. For them."

"…You're wrong," she whispered, raising her axe again and ignoring the tears streaming down her cheeks. Before she even got close to bringing it down, however, Seren cracked his head forward, slamming into her wounded shoulder. She screamed in pain as his blow broke her already partially-severed collarbone; one of the ends of the long bone coming up and jutting out of her shoulder covered in blood. Seren took the opportunity to kick her between the legs and wriggle out from underneath her, jogging a short distance away.

Glaring at him, she slowly got to her feet. For a minute, there was complete silence in the cavern, save the dripping of Arista's blood on the cavern floor. It made a metallic sound, exactly like a gunshot. She hated it.

"…Let's end this," she suggested, smacking the shaft of her axe into her open palm. Seren gave her a tight nod.

"Yeah," he said, pointing his blade at her abdomen. There was another short pause, and simultaneously they threw themselves forward.

Even before they connected, Arista knew that it was the end. One way or another, this final clash was going to end with her leaving the arena. Whether or not she'd be alive was the real question.

She made it to Seren first, and slammed her shoulder into his gut, knocking the air out of him. As he wheezed pathetically, she brought her axe down at his head, preparing to slice it in half. He jerked back, though, and the blow sliced neatly down his entire chest. Blood immediately spurted from the wound, and the tip of something pinkish that could have been a part of Seren's intestine. The boy screamed, falling to his knees and vomiting blood onto Arista's boots. He clutched at the wound on his chest, curling in on himself in pain.

Arista raised the axe over his trembling back, but at the last second he lashed out, knife biting deeply into her ankle. With a sharp cry she fell, crumpling in on herself. She grappled with Seren for the knife but he managed to get it safely in his hand and scoot away from her, trailing blood on the cavern floor.

She followed him, snatching the axe's handle. He hadn't made it far; only a few feet, and had vomited blood again. He was shaking and sweaty, and obviously dying. She had to end it for him. Limping to her feet, she put a foot on his back to prevent further movement and raised the axe high in the air before bringing it down.

He moved. Even in the apparent throes of death, he jerked to the side so abruptly that the only thing left under her axe was her own foot. Her scream was sharp as her axe sliced off her left foot, leaving her with a neat stump to remember it by. She tumbled to the ground and dropped the axe with a clatter, falling to the cavern floor in a bloody heap. Growling, she reached out for the axe handle, only to find that it wasn't there, and it didn't take a genius to know who had taken it.

She turned as the axe came swishing down. And screamed. And then, as the pain increased in fervor, she screamed again, louder.

_Seren Alyona had sliced off the left part of her face._

There was blood everywhere. It splashed onto her twitching hands and slid off the blade of her axe. Seren was staring at her in horror, eyes wide with shock. It was clear that he hadn't meant to slice off her face, or part of it, anyway. Arista gasped and lurched forward, reaching out for his bloody abdomen. With a gasp, he choked and spat some blood, falling to the ground as she scratched at him. They fell on top of each other, a bloody, writhing mass of skin and broken flesh.

She reached for the axe, faceless muscle twitching against Seren's cheek. If she could just get the axe she could kill him, and then the Capitol could fix her and everything would be all right again…

Her fingers brushed the handle at the same time Seren's knife stabbed her through the throat.

She choked only to find that no oxygen would go all the way through her windpipe. It whistled through the hole that Seren had created. Stars of red winked in her mostly-ruined vision, and the left side of her mouth twitched, dragging sharp pain across her exposed muscle. She felt her back arch, and she slipped away from Seren, falling in a neat little huddle on the cavern floor. The pain was indescribable. It was clawing at her with fanged paws and eating her alive.

She was no winner. All along, she'd been destined to lose these Games. She'd lost everything; her life, her love, even her friggin' face, to lose.

"Ah," she gasped, the simple movement of her mouth bringing her over the edge. With a final massive spike of pain from her ruined face, her heart began to thrum in her chest, and then it slowed, until each beat was a gunshot.

No more oxygen would come to her lungs.

There was no time for last words, last wishes, and last thoughts. There was only thick soupy red pain that dragged her away, down into a spiraling whirlpool of the stuff. It choked her and tossed her in an endless storm. This, she knew, was Hell.

And then it all faded away, and she realized at last that she couldn't be going to Hell. Because if there was a Hell, then there was a God.

And it was very clear that God hadn't existed for a long, long time.

* * *

><p>He'd won.<p>

The thought came from somewhere deep in his fevered brain. The pain from his abdomen was fierce, but so was the nagging little thought. _You won, Seren. You won._

_Congratulations._

He screamed, arching his back. Ribbons of saliva dribbled from his mouth, and pain-induced tears dripped from his eyes. "_Noo!" _he moaned, trying to ignore the pain. It wasn't easy.

He blinked open his eyes dully to the fanfare blaring in his ears. Claudius Templesmith's voice was ringing through the cavern, congratulating him on winning the Hunger Games. Beside him, Arista's body was rising into the air, being pulled by a metal claw attached to the ceiling. Garnet's was already gone. Something, a ladder, was floating down from the ceiling as if by magic, beckoning him. It landed right next to his head invitingly, and slowly, mustering all of his strength, he staggered to his feet.

Something slimy was moving in his abdomen and something slipped out of the gash and splattered onto the cave floor. He hoped it wasn't vital but it probably was, because he stumbled immediately and fell into the ladder. He felt an electric current freezing him immediately, and then rushing air as he was pulled up towards the cavern roof. A portion of the rock was sliding away to reveal the underbelly of a hovercraft, which he was being pulled into by multiple hands…

"Ohmigosh!" somebody was gasping. "His frickin' _spleen _just fell out! What do we do?"

"Relax," a calmer voice instructed, slipping some sort of gas mask on Seren's head. "He'll be fine. He can live without one for a few minutes."

_Can I? _Seren thought drowsily. Something was coming in through the mask, and as he breathed it he felt tired and confused, and a lot less painful. _I guess that's a good thing…_

The voices were mumbling in the edges of his hearing. He tried to focus but the gas in the mask was making it difficult. With a mental shoulder-shrug, he surrendered to the gas, letting it pull him into darkness.

After all, he _really _needed to be alone right now.

* * *

><p>Time passed weirdly for Seren.<p>

Sometimes he was awake, although most of the time he wasn't. Everything was a foggy shade of grey whenever he opened his eyes, which wasn't often. Why would he waste his energy trying to do something silly like that? He was safe in his body now; no one was trying to kill him and he had all the time in the world to do what he'd desperately wanted to do since the Games began: _think._

He thought about the other tributes, mostly. As he floated between semi-consciousness and total unconsciousness, their faces floated with him. Mela, Garnet, Arista and of course Merryn were some of the highlights of these sort-of dreams, although occasionally Lysemet would visit as well, which was scary.

Once, he had the energy to move his head. He felt as though it were an accomplishment.

There was another time that he realized he was strapped down. The thought would have terrified him, but he was beyond caring, at this point.

He wasn't hungry. He wasn't cold. He wasn't thirsty. He wasn't anything, really.

And he liked it that way.

There was no joy in winning. Seren realized this, floating around in the fevered recesses of his brain. He wasn't happy. He wasn't even _close _to happy. Hell, if he could move, he'd probably be sobbing. Crying for the losers. He obviously wasn't a good winner.

Once he wondered if there was a God. The thought was so absurd he abandoned it immediately.

The constant stress of recovery weighed heavily on his otherwise weightless mind. He couldn't tell how much time had passed. Perhaps he'd been out an hour, or a day, or a week. Who could tell? Seren, with no body and no way to tell time, certainly didn't know. He'd counted six periods of semi-consciousness, each lasting around five minutes, he thought, but he couldn't be sure. The whole thing was very unsettling, or it _would _be, if he hadn't stopped caring ages ago. He didn't mind if he never woke up. It wouldn't bother him in the slightest.

None of his fellows had woken up either. They were dead, though, and he was still alive.

"I wish I was dead," he mumbled, and realized that he'd woken.

* * *

><p><strong>OHMIGOODLORDSERENWON!<strong>

**SERRRRRREEEEEENNNNNNN!**

**As for Garnet and Arista... I cried at both of their deaths. Lovemusic2; Bamabelle, thank you for your tributes. They were so, so good, and made my ending scene so perfect. I couldn't have asked for better.**

**And now...**

**ORTHEREFORE! SEREN WON! HE WON! HE WOOONNNNNN!**

**You know what this means, right! OF COURSE YOU DO! You get a prize from me, Jayfish! In my upcoming SYOT, for which the link is on the next page, any character you submit shall INSTANTLY be accepted! I'm not doing first come first serve this time around, so your character(s) won't go through the elimination round; they'll be on the list immediately. CONGRATULATIONS!**

**I have a lot more to say to everyone, but I'll be saying it all at the end of the next chapter, which is also up. See you guys there!**


	23. Homecoming

**Hey kids. *Sniffle***

**Well, this is it. The end. In this chapter, we celebrate our amazing Victor, Seren Alyona. WE LOVE YOU, SEREN!**

**See you at the bottom for my goodbyes to all of you!**

* * *

><p>His body didn't hurt. The fact that his body didn't hurt was the first thing that Seren noticed. The next was his room. It was white, but a comforting white, not the kind that scared him. He tried to sit up and gave up as he realized a padded band was keeping him firmly pressed against the sheets of the crisp white bed on which he lay.<p>

"H-hello?" he rasped. His voice was dry from no doubt weeks of silence. It must have been tough piecing him back together. "Is anybody there?" At his voice, a section of the wall swung back, revealing a tall teenage boy with fiery red hair and blue eyes and a blank expression. Seren recognized him; he was the Avox that had waited on him and Lysemet in the Training Center. He was holding a tray, and walked towards Seren as their eyes met, the wall swinging shut behind him.

Seren felt like asking a question, but the boy wouldn't have been able to answer so it didn't matter. The boy was now picking up a spoon and scooping up some bland-looking broth. Seren opened his mouth unflinchingly and allowed the boy to feed him the broth. It was just as bland as it looked, but Seren wasn't complaining; he didn't think he'd be able to stomach a large meal anyway.

As a bit of a treat, the boy had a small chunk of bread which he dipped into the broth, allowing it to get nice and soft before placing it into Seren's mouth. Seren chewed gratefully and gave the boy a smile of thanks that wasn't returned. The boy looked at him and jabbed a finger at his chest before making a thumb's-up sign.

"Are you asking me if I feel good?" The boy nodded, and Seren's brow creased. "I do feel good," he admitted. "I feel fine, actually."

The boy nodded, as though Seren had given him the answer he'd expected. He got up from Seren's bedside and pressed a button on the bedpost, and suddenly the band around Seren's waist retracted, freeing him. The Avox boy didn't even turn around; walking towards the wall, which swung open at his approach. It remained open after he'd left, waiting for Seren, apparently.

He swung his legs unsteadily over the edge of the bed and slowly stood up, expecting to fall over. He did exactly that; thudding back onto the bed with a huff of air that reminded him painfully of the sounds Arista had been making as she'd died. He closed his eyes, remembering what he'd done to her; more importantly, what he'd done to her face. It had been sick, twisted, depraved… The list of adjectives went on. None of them were very complimentary.

He got to his feet again and shuffled forward a step before realizing that he was completely naked. He paused, and then shrugged his skinny shoulders. "Oh, hell," he muttered. "I've been through worse."

He stumbled out the door and into a carpeted hall. "Hello?" he called, and almost immediately Seren heard a door slam. His escort, Prima Selken, hurried out of a room along the hallway, pausing when she saw Seren. Her eyes raked across his naked form quickly, and she closed her eyes.

"Highly distasteful," she said, by way of congratulations. "And your hair looked better before."

"My hair?" Seren asked, reaching up to feel it. He could feel the difference immediately; for one thing, it had apparently increased in volume; now it came down in a sort of large, imposing triangle around his head, sort of like a lion's mane. He pinched a strand in between his fingers and looked at it before frowning slightly. _They dyed my hair black? I bet that this is permanent, too._

"Is anything else different about me?" he asked his mentor. She took a step forward and grabbed him by the jaw, angling his head so that it caught the light.

"Your eyes," she said. "They made the irises black. You look like a wolf." She released him, turning away in disgust. "I hate it. _So _unoriginal. And get some clothes on." She waved over her shoulder, sashaying back into the room she'd been in.

Throwing all discreetness to the winds, Seren followed her and opened the door. He was greeted to strangely cozy sight; his mentor, an older man named Guff who was slightly crazy, his stylist, a pretty younger woman who got angry at the slightest things names Ressa, and Prima, all sitting on a couch together, watching television. He cleared his throat and the three of them jerked around. Guff took one look at his lack of clothes and burst out laughing. "Nice one, boy!" he choked, throwing his head back. "Go around like that and in no time the Capitol girls will be swooning! Ahaha!"

Ressa jumped from her seat, hurrying over to hug him. "Congratulations, Seren," she whispered in his ear, neon yellow skin warm against his own. "I'm so frickin' proud of you!"

"Are you crying?" Seren asked, feeling wetness on his cheek.

"Shut up!" Ressa wailed, smacking him hard on the shoulder and hugging him even tighter. "Come and sit down, you little brat!"

Prima looked at him as he sat next to her on the couch. "Here," she said dryly, handing him a pillow. "If you're not going to put on some clothes, at least cover yourself with something." Seren took the pillow wordlessly and settled it in his lap before turning to face the screen.

His eyes widened in horror immediately. They were showing footage of the Hunger Games right now; at the moment they were airing the fight in the clearing where the girl from Two slashed Regah and Lysemet killed herself. Seren's eyes were huge as he watched himself onscreen, jumping onto the girl from Two's back and shouting words of encouragement to Merryn. He felt his stomach twisting, and before anyone could react he'd thrown up all over the carpet.

Ressa sighed. "I'll get the Avox," she said, jumping up from the couch and hurrying off. Prima wrinkled her nose and moved away. Seren jumped at the hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Guff staring at him with serious eyes, for once.

"Look, boy," he rumbled. "I just wanted to say… It doesn't get any better. You just have to live with it." His rheumy eyes were full of understanding. "You just have to tough it out. Understand me?" Seren nodded slowly, unused to the weight of so much hair on his head.

"Yeah," he said, at the same time the Avox boy returned with Ressa explaining the mess behind him. He sighed and raised an eyebrow at Seren, a bold move, before turning to the mess with a bunch of towels and some kind of spray bottle. Seren glanced at the screen again and felt his stomach growling uncomfortably. "I—I can't," he gasped, tearing his eyes away from Lysemet's final moments. "I can't watch this."

There was silence in the room, save the sound of Lysemet's cannon booming onscreen. Guff cleared his throat. "You're going to have to watch it all tonight," he said. "It's the Final Interview. Good practice, watching now." He turned up the volume.

"_No_," Seren said firmly, shutting off the television completely. "I can't." Guff looked at him, eyes hard.

"Don't get snotty with me, boy…" he began, but was cut off by a smack from Ressa.

"Shut it, old man," she said warningly. "I'm taking Seren and we're going to get ready for the interviews. Understand?" Guff glared at her before nodding once, stoically. Ressa nodded too before grabbing Seren's wrist and pulling him off the couch, dragging him into a room adjoining the one they had just been in. She walked immediately to a closet set in one of the walls and removed something wrapped in paper from a rack of clothing, ripping off the paper brutally to reveal a black shirt that was definitely not going to close over his chest and dark black pants that looked uncomfortably form-fitting.

Seren looked at them. "I'm thirteen," he said, and Ressa exploded.

"What? Did you think I somehow overlooked that?" she raged, throwing the clothes at him. "Of course not, moron! But I've got no choice! With the hair and the eyes, you have to look hot! It's the only way! And don't give me that look, I had to give you something to make you look dangerous, and that was the only thing I could think of. You looked so pathetic otherwise."

"Thanks," Seren muttered, picking up the clothes from the floor where Ressa had thrown them and starting to pull them on. Ressa made an impatient noise in her throat and hurried over to him.

"Oh, let me do that," she exclaimed, pulling on the open shirt and unzipping the pants for him. "You're really such an idiot, Seren," she said, ruffling his now-gigantic hair fondly.

He gave her a tiny half smile. "Thanks, Ressa," he whispered.

She only glanced at the door, her mouth tightening into a thin line. "Come on, shorty," she said. "Interviews start in a few hours, and you're nowhere near ready."

By the time he was ready he'd started to feel nervous. It wasn't the upcoming interview that frightened him, but the recap of the Games. If there was anything Seren did not want to do, it was experience the Hunger Games for a second time. He simply was _not _interested, thank you very much. To make matters worse, he was fairly positive he looked like an idiot in his outfit, although everyone kept insisting that he looked fine. Even Prima hadn't been able to think of anything bad to say, so he couldn't have looked too bad.

Everyone accompanied him down to the Launch Pad, wishing him luck and giving him last minute tips. He nodded his head and completely ignored them all. They weren't helping; the nonstop talking was only making things worse, actually, but he'd never tell them to shut up. Besides, the Launch Pad was starting to rise, and he was tilting his head at a confident angle and smiling, trying to look like he knew exactly what he was doing…

The roar from the Capitol was deafening. It was so loud and so exuberant that for a second he was actually proud of himself for winning the Games before remembering that he detested himself. Smiling for the cameras and hopefully not looking as fake as he felt he probably looked, he crossed the stage quickly and sat himself down in the traditional victor's throne. He glanced up to see President Snow walking amiably towards him, carrying a simple silver circlet on a blood-red cushion. The President lifted the circlet and placed it on his now huge black hair, giving him a snake's smile. "Panem, I give you Seren Alyona!" he called, and the roar was so loud that Seren imagined his eardrums might burst.

The President left him to enjoy the recaps, all on his own on a stage he'd never imagined he'd have to face by himself. He tried not to shiver as the dreaded Capitol seal appeared onscreen, along with the anthem he'd grown to hate. The recaps started right away with the Reapings, only focusing on those of District Six and District Nine. _Merryn and my Districts… _

The chariot rides came next. Seren had to grin; he and Lysemet had looked pretty crazy dressed up as herbs. He'd seemed insecure on the chariots, especially next to the sadistically grinning Lysemet. Now he was going to have to play it confident and cool, like his outfit. Despite himself, his palms began to sweat. _So much for confident… _and _cool._

The interviews were next, although Merryn's interview was featured more than his. That much he'd been expecting; he'd said that he disliked the Hunger Games at least three times in his interview, which would not look good for a Victor. Now he was going to have to be careful about what he said, although he doubted he'd be able to restrain himself if Caesar asked him a question on his opinion of the Games directly.

Smash cut to the Bloodbath, which was mostly just shots of Merryn and Seren running from various angles, with a few other tributes mixed in as well. The rest of the Games went by just as quickly, with real emphasis only being placed on scenes involving Merryn or Seren in some way. It all seemed unfair to him but he was glad; it meant that there was less pain for him to have to watch. He nearly broke his cool mask at Merryn's death; she looked so beautiful lying there in the grass with her blood all around her, and it brought him to tears. But he looked up at the night sky and blinked a lot, and recovered quickly.

Eventually they'd made it to the final battle. Seren got to see a chip being inserted into his head that would cause him to hallucinate by on-site Hunger Games technicians who quickly darted off into the shadows when they were finished, leaving him, Garnet, and Arista to battle it out. The Gamemakers showed onscreen the phantoms that each tribute saw, and therefore Seren got to watch himself stab a laughing Mela through the heart, and cut off Merryn's head before she'd even gotten a chance to say anything. He shuddered at the last one and felt something acidic rising in the back of his throat but forced himself to swallow it.

They ended the Games with Seren collapsing against the ladder, covered in sweat and with his spleen lying in a puddle of blood at his feet. It was a great parting shot that made Seren feel violently ill just by looking at it, which meant that the Capitol probably adored it.

The lights slowly came on onstage, most of them shining directly in Seren's face. He did his best not to squint and turned in his chair until he was facing Caesar Flickerman. He gave Caesar a half smile which the audience seemed to adore, as general screaming ensued for the next few minutes until Caesar finally managed to calm the crowd down.

"Seren Alyona," he began, and was interrupted by screams from the audience. "Seren Alyona," he continued, after the screaming had died down. "It's good to have you onstage."

"Thanks, Caesar," Seren said, holding his head high. He barely had to do anything to seem cool; Ressa's alterations made him a lot cooler than he'd ever been before. He looked a lot older than thirteen now, and a lot more dangerous than the boy he'd used to be.

"So," Caesar began. "So many topics and so little time!" He chuckled, and the audience laughed too. Seren simply smiled. "Do you have any suggestions, Seren?"

He shrugged, maintaining his façade of perfect composure. "How about the beginning?" he asked. He hadn't meant it to be funny, but immediately the audience roared in laughter. _Oh. It must be hard to get them to dislike you…_

"How about it?" Caesar laughed. "The beginning, then. You know, when you got that five, none of us really expected you to be such a tough competitor!"

Seren forced himself to laugh. "I didn't think I was a tough competitor either," he admitted. "But I guess I was." There were "oohs" from the crowd, although he didn't think it had been such an extraordinary statement.

"Now Seren," Caesar said, leaning in confidentially. "Was that your approach all along? To trick the competition into believing you were weak and helpless?"

"Yeah," Seren lied, and was rewarded with gasps and applause. _I feel sick. Oh God, how do the other Victors stand it…? _

"A commendable strategy!" Caesar complimented. "And it looks like it paid off!" The audience roared with laughter, but this time Seren couldn't even get his mouth to twitch into a semblance of a smile. Caesar seemed to notice his discomfort and changed topics immediately. "… The Bloodbath. When you left the Bloodbath with nothing, how did you feel?"

"I was…" He sighed. "I guess I figured I didn't need anything, so I was okay."

"You must have been confident that you could win!"

"Well, I didn't want to die, so…" _That was a sick thing to say. Everybody else died and I'm talking about how I didn't want to. I'm a monster._

"That's understandable!" More laughter. Seren brought one corner of his lips up in a smirk, although his heart really wasn't in it. _When is this going to be over? Please let it be over soon._

"Alright," Caesar continued. "Let's talk about Merryn." Seren's heart sank. _Oh, God. Not Merryn. Anything but Merryn. _"There's been talk that you two might have been deeply in love. True or just a rumor?"

Seren swallowed; his throat was suddenly very dry. "We were just friends," he said, firmly. "She was like a sister to me." _I might have loved her. So what? That's none of your business._

"What was it like, meeting and then losing this girl?" Caesar asked quietly. Seren looked away.

"… I knew one of us was going to have to die," he said. "But when the time came, all I could think was that it wasn't her time yet. I hate the Hunger Games," he added, so quietly it was a mumble.

There were confused rumbles from the audience, and Caesar changed the topic again, looking slightly panicked. "So how did it feel to win the Hunger Games, Seren? What was it like when you heard Arista Ryans' cannon?"

_Horrible. _"Painful," Seren said. "My spleen fell out, I think."

Caesar nodded gravely. "Luckily for you, the team of doctors on-site managed to get you a new one within half an hour! That must be a Hunger Games record!" The audience whooped and cheered, and Seren shrugged, grinning a fake smile that made him want to curl into a little ball and die.

"Lucky me," he said, cueing the laughter that apparently never died down. It was so unpleasant.

"So, Seren," Caesar said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Now that you've won the Hunger Games, what are you going to do with your winnings?"

"Bring them to my family. My parents could always use a little extra money."

"Very loyal to your family, aren't you?"

"They raised me," he said quietly. He could see a lot of the girls in the audience either fainting or making an annoying sort of kissy-kissy face at him. He was repulsed. _I'm only thirteen! I wish Ressa didn't make me show off my lack of abs for all of Panem to see…_

There was a tiny buzzer in the background, and then he and Caesar were rising to their feet. Caesar yelled something and the audience screamed, and Seren walked shakily off the stage, doing his best not to trip or vomit. Both seemed likely.

As soon as he was safe in the Training Center, away from the audience's eyes, he sank to his knees, curling into a little ball. Acid burned his throat and tears stung his eyes. "Aah-ah-ahh," he moaned, snot and tears stripping down his face and ruining the stage makeup Ressa had spent an hour carefully applying. "Oh God. I can't do this. I can't."

"Why not?" He shivered at the voice and went still before slowly unfurling from his little ball. He looked up to see a girl around fifteen leaning against a wall, looking at him coolly. He hadn't even noticed her standing there when he'd staggered in, although he'd been a bit preoccupied so it wasn't surprising. She had dark brown hair that was stick-straight and a tattoo of a rose on her cheek, and was looking at him. "Well?" she continued. "Why not?"

He rubbed a hand over his nose to stop it from running. "It's wrong," he whispered, looking the floor. "This whole situation is just wrong."

The girl looked away, down the long hallway. "I thought the same thing last year," she said, and Seren realized who she was.

"Oh! You're Mara! You won last year's Hunger Games!"

Mara nodded solemnly. "And you're Seren. You won this year's Hunger Games." She smiled at him, chocolate-brown eyes lighting up. With a grin, she extended her hand. "I'll help you up," she offered.

"…Thanks," he said, taking her hand. It was warm and dry against his own, and something fluttered in his stomach. "Thanks," he said, again.

She looked at him, smiling fading. "You're welcome," she said, leaning against the wall and squeezing his hand once before releasing him.

He had to get going back to his room, but not before he asked her one last thing. "Mara?" he asked, tentative. "Does it ever get better?"

She smiled. "No," she said.

"Ah," he replied, turning. "I guess I'll see you next year, then."

"Hey!" she called, abruptly, and jogged up to him, snatching his hand. She pulled a black tube from a pocket in her dark pants that he recognized as a pen and pulled off the cap, hastily scribbling something in his palm. She closed his fingers on what she'd wrote and looked at him, her pale cheeks flushing and turning the tattooed rose red. "Call me sometime," she said, turning around and waving over her shoulder.

Dumbfounded, he opened his fingers to see that she'd written a phone number down on his hand. The same feeling he'd gotten when she'd helped him up fluttered in his stomach again, and he clenched his fist tightly over the numbers.

"I _will _call," he promised to the empty hallway, heading to the elevators.

* * *

><p>The train ride home was torturous.<p>

For one thing, Guff had started to see ghosts again, and had locked himself in his room. Occasionally Seren could hear bouts of cackling laughter coming from behind the closed door, which he did his best to ignore. That meant that his only company was Prima, as Ressa was staying in the Capitol, and having Prima as company was nothing short of hell.

For one thing, she'd slink in during every single meal he tried to eat and look pointedly at his plate, warning him with her eyes that he'd get fat if he ate like that every day. He did his best to ignore her; Ressa had told him specifically that he was way too skinny, and he didn't really care if he got fat anyway, to be honest. After a week of the Hunger Games, he deserved it.

Prima was also a total sadist when it came to manners, as he discovered when she hit him over the head a bowl because his elbows were leaning against the table. His new head of black hair had mostly cushioned the blow, but it had still hurt. Prima had refused to apologize on grounds of her being older than Seren and therefore wiser. Seren was tempted to point out that she was from the Capitol and therefore _not _wiser, but it was kind of a nasty thing to say, so he just kept his mouth shut.

Worst of all was the fact that he still wasn't home. All he wanted at this point was to curl up in his parent's arms and forget about the Hunger Games forever. Even the hot chocolate he was currently chugging did nothing to help the fact that there was a large hole in his heart, and that it burned.

"We're almost there," Prima said, and Seren yelped, jumping around in his seat and hurling the steaming hot drink directly at her. She screamed as it came in contact with her pale skin and dripped down her red dress. "What is _wrong _with you?"

"I-I'm sorry!" Seren gasped, running to her side. "I didn't mean to, it's just… You startled me!"

"Ugh!" she growled, storming out of the dining car to change, probably. Seren hung his head, tears forming in his eyes in spite of himself. Would he attack everyone that startled him from now on? Was that something the Hunger Games had given him? He didn't want good reflexes at all. He just wanted to go home.

His wish was granted seconds later as the train ground to a halt, metallic screeches assailing his ears. He walked like a zombie to the car with the doors that led to the outside world. Guff was already there, twitching slightly. Apparently the ghosts in his head had died down a little, but he knew they were there. He raised a fuzzy eyebrow at Seren. Prima slipped up behind him, having changed into a pink thing that didn't look good on her at all. She glared at him, refusing his tiny smile of apology. Nobody said anything, so Seren took it upon himself to open the doors.

There was the blinding flash of multiple cameras, and Seren stepped onto the train platform to a welcome sight. His parents were standing huddled together, eyes wide and filled with tears. Ethli was a few feet away from them. He smiled in delight when he saw his friend. "Seren!" he yelled, running forward and tackling him in a bone-crushing hug.

He could see the cameras clicking away and squeezed Ethli tighter. "Ethli!" he replied.

"I didn't think you'd make it back!" Ethli was saying, talking very quickly. "I was so worried and stuff! But you did it!"

"Yeah," Seren said, patting his excited friend on the back. He heard an uncomfortable cough, and released Ethli to see his parents looking at them, tears wetting both of their cheeks. He forced himself to walk, not run to them, but at the last step his composure broke and he fell into his mother's warm embrace. She was sobbing beautifully into his ear, and Seren realized dimly that even his father was crying. He could hear Ethli chuckling a few feet away, and a tiny, true smile slipped onto his face at last.

He was home.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, this is it, guys. THE END. I hope you liked it!<strong>

**Time for the personal stuff. I had so much fun writing this SYOT, and I want to thank everyone who submitted and everyone who reviewed. In fact, I want to thank you so much... that I made seperate thank-you's for everyone involved in this story. I love you guys.**

**Lookingpastmysadness- You were an awesome daughter! Lysemet was an amazing character who was a shame to kill off, and all of your reviews were so awesome and exuberant!**

**Thelosthungergames- Both Rylla and Fang will forever live in my heart. Rylla was such a complex character, and I had a lot of fun writing her. Thank you for submitting.**

**Maysilee Survived- Echo, Lura and Saber all died at my hand, but they were three of the best characters ever. Echo was amazing. .ING. Your reviews were long and gave me food for thought, which every writer simply adores. Gracias, mi amiga.**

**Lovemusic2- You reviewed practically every chapter and gave me Dillon Murphy and Garnet Painite. Dillon almost made it to the Final Eight, and Garnet to the Final THREE. Every kind review inspired me to keep writing, and I thank you from the bottom of my tiny, tribute-killing heart.**

**BamaBelle630- ARISTA. She was a wonderful character, and killing her off was SO FRICKIN' HARD! You really made this SYOT awesome by submitting her, and each of your reviews were so supportive and exciting to read that they made me squeal once or twice (yes, I am a review whore.) Arista and James have claimed a special part of my heart now. Thank you.**

**angel experiment 18- Did I ever tell you how much I like your penname? Probably not. Anyway, Merryn was our winner's ally, and a real fighter. Even after I killed her off, you continued to give me supportive reviews that I loved. Thank you for the awesome reviews and tribute! And tell Merryn that I am SO SORRY for misreading her form and calling her Merryn when she preferred Enya. I literally only noticed that on Thursday... And then went into the Angst Corner. Thanks again, anyway!**

**iBeNinja- Landon and Soleil were so cute together! The Sweet Careers, as I nicknamed them. I was sad to see them go, and I thank you for letting me have them in the first place.**

**andhesaidalways- Rosie. One of the biggest conflicts in the SYOT. Even in death, she managed to influence those around her, and a TON of stuff happened because she got killed. And that is how you know she's awesome. Thank you for every review, and more importantly, thank you for Rosie.**

**Mocking James- James was AMAZING. His character was the type that I love to write; a smooth, suave gentleman who can be really down to earth where it counts. Despite the fact that he died in the feast, he saved Arista and died for her. It was beautiful. Also, so many of your reviews made me laugh. I don't know why. They were funny. Thanks for bringing me some humor!**

**orTherefore- AHHHHH. You submitted our winner, Seren Alyona (who if frickin' amazing, by the way) and reviewed every chapter. And each of your reviews was AMAZING; so kind, detailed, and supportive. You are one of the people I updated for every Sunday, knowing that you'd read. And so I thank you for Seren, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for being nice to a Jayfish trying to scratch out a living on Fanfiction. I really appreciate it.**

**Foofy- You only reviewed once, but I liked you. And I get the strange feeling that you are related in some way to FoofToldMe. Is this true? No one can tell...**

**ShiningMockingjay1- You gave me Amethyst and Cypress, both wonderful character with (in my opinion) awesome deaths. Thanks for reviewing, reading, and giving me two amazing characters!**

**FoofToldMe- From the beginning, when you told me to make a poll on my profile, to now, when you reach each of my chapters and give me suggestions, wonderful comments and ideas, you were a great reviewer. Really. And you boosted my self-esteem a ton; you were reading my story and didn't even have a character in it! Thanks so much for it! Also... Do you know Foofy in any way? Are you related to Foofy? ARE YOU FOOFY? Because you both have "Foof" in your names and I'm paranoid... You don't have to respond to this.**

**Lavinia Abernathy- You always had great reviews and suggestions for me, as well as an awesome tribute named Mela. Mela was so close to winning, too! Thank you for reviewing and giving me Mela, the smarty who pretended to be dumb in the interview. That was classic :)**

**Eppyaya- You were one of the Seren lovers, and it's not hard to imagine why: SEREN IS BOSS. Thank you for reviewing; everyone who ever reviews makes me happy inside!**

**starglow13- Another one who didn't submit a character but still read my story and reviewed. Thank you for that *sniffles***

**Lavi-tan- I'm glad you liked the paragraph formatting (tee-hee)**

**Giselle Pink- You loved Lysemet, and you had a good reason for it: LYSEMET WAS ALSO BOSS, BEFORE SHE KILLED HERSELF. You and I both bowed our heads when she died and had a moment of silence. She was very very amazing. And thank you for reviewing to tell me that ;)**

**DEDEBUG9- From the moment you tried to sponsor Seren and Echo and was ignored by a stingy Jayfish, you became a part of this SYOT. Thank you for all of your exuberant reviews, which I really enjoyed. They made my day(s)!**

**Crayon97- Even though I wasn't supposed to be sponsoring, I gave Merryn the sheild you requested. She died anyway, but she died WITH a sheild. That's awesome. Merryn and I both appreciate the review!**

**goldie031- The fact that you asked me who was left because you couldn't see made me very, very happy. Thank you for reviewing and actively reading this SYOT. It means a lot to me :)**

**Wow- You are very flattering, Wow. Thank you for giving me such amazing positive feedback!**

**Hand-Drawn-Photograph- You're only on chapter four, but when you make it here, you'll see it. Thanks for reviewing. Even if your fave doesn't win...**

**Well, that's that, folks. You can disperse. Spread out. Go home. Not that I want you to, of course.**

**...Especially since I've got a present for you all. I don't know how to end this, so I'll end with the present. I posted the new SYOT. :) It's on my profile, if you're interested.**

**Bye, kids. I love you all. See you around.**

**(And may the odds be EVER in your favor.)**


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